Over the long hot dry that has been Wellington's summer this year we have been feasting from the garden. Along with lettuces, spring onions, radishes and rainbow chard, we have had a bumper crop of courgettes. We have had green & yellow courgettes and some wonderful scallopini. I didn't know that as the scallopini grow they change from bright yellow to a rich creamy colour.
Very fresh radishes it turns out are delicious buttered and dipped in salt. This turned up in a book of Parisian cooking as something to have with an aperitif, and also appeared in Hugh's veg. Basically, spread a little of your very best butter - we are currently eating Lewis Rd - on a radish & sprinkle with a pinch of very best sea salt.
We have struggled to keep up with the courgettes and at times were eating them every day. Luckily, there are so many good things to do with a courgette. For an excellent fettuccine dish, gently fry 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic with a finely chopped onion & 4 thickly sliced courgettes until the onion is soft. Add a pinch of saffron threads that have been soaking in 1/4 cup water for 15 mins or so - add the water as well. Add 4 diced tomatoes and 200ml cream. Stir this mixture through cooked fettuccine with 200g crumbled goat's feta and a handful of torn basil leaves. Top with grated Parmesan.
Try a warm chickpea salad filled with summer veg. This is a bit of an assembly job. Start by softening a finely sliced red onion with 1 tsp cumin seeds in a pan. Put in a large bowl with 2 tbsp olive oil and 3 tbsp white wine vinegar. Rinse & drain 2 tins of chick peas & heat through in a pan of boiling water then drain & add to the bowl. Cook 2 cobs of corn & scrape the kernels into the bowl - I have a gadget that does this really efficiently and is also good if you have braces or have just had your wisdom teeth extracted and can't gnaw it straight from the cob. Steam or blanch some green beans & add to the bowl along with 1/2 cup pitted green olives, thinly sliced deseeded red chilli, 1 cup flat leaf parsley (remember I don't eat coriander but you might like to). Toss to combine, season & sprinkle on some crumbled goat's cheese. Some crusty sourdough would be nice with this to soak up the dressing on the plate at the end.
To really celebrate a glut of summer vegetables what about a Spanish vegetable stew - a menestra. I used a few leaves of chard, a large handful of green beans, 2 courgettes, 100g green beans. I would have added asparagus if they had been around. Strip the leaves from the chard & chop the stalks into 5 cm pieces, halve the beans, slice the courgettes lengthways into stubby sticks. Bring a large pan of water to the boil & cook the vegetables separately for the appropriate amount of time. Lift them out with a slotted spoon & refresh under cold water then set aside. About 5 minutes for the beans, three for the chard stalks (not leaves), courgettes. Reserve the cooking water. Heat some olive oil in a cazuela or wide shallow pan and soften a thinly sliced onion & garlic clove. Stir in 25g plain flour. Gradually stir in about 500ml of the cooking water & 1/2 tsp caster sugar. Bring to the boil & simmer a couple of minutes.Stir 150g peas & the chard leaves into the sauce & cook 3 minutes or so then stir in all the cooked vegetables to heat through. You could have this as a light mid-week meal or as a side with fish. Either way, it is a delicious way of serving summer greens.
When one courgette is hiding under the leaves & becomes marrow-like before you discover it, try stuffing it with a rice mixture. I cooked up about 150g lamb mince with onion, garlic & 1 tsp each of cinnamon & cumin. I mixed through about 1 cup homemade tomato sauce & 1/2 cup cooked rice. Halve 2 marrow-like courgettes & scrape out the seeds. Lay in a baking dish where they fit snugly and fill with the mince mixture. Bake at 180 about 1/2 an hour until the courgettes are tender.
