21st Apr 2021 - 11:06
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By Reynolds
Serves four
Ingredients
For the stuffed courgette:
- 60g organic black quinoa
- 200ml still mineral water
- 2 large spring onions, finely chopped
- 30g roasted corn kernels
- 15g butter
- Sea salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1 medium-sized yellow courgette, cut into four, seeds removed with an apple corer
- 100ml vegetable stock
Courgette flower:
- 4 courgette flowers, fruit still attached
- 40g hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
- 400g buffalo ricotta
- 20g fresh basil, roughly chopped
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Courgette fritter:
- Large courgette, cut into fine julienne
- 40g roasted corn kernels
- 2 large spring onions, finely chopped
Roasted pepper and tomato sauce:
- 2 red peppers, halved and deseeded
- 2 large tomatoes on the vine, halved, retain the vine
- 50ml olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 banana shallot, roughly chopped
- 150ml vegetable stock
- Pinch of sugar
- Splash of good balsamic vinegar
- Sea salt and ground white pepper
- ¼ mild green chilli, finely chopped
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- 15g mature Parmesan, finely grated
- 20g self-raising flour
- Vegetable oil for deep-frying
To finish:
- 2 baby courgettes
- Olive or rapeseed oil
- 4 Marzanino tomatoes, blowtorched
- Baby basil leaves
Preparation method
Stuffed courgette:
- Soak the quinoa in cold water for 20 minutes, rinse and drain well in a fine sieve. Place in a saucepan, cover with the mineral water and season with salt. Cover the pan with cling film and bring to a very gentle simmer. When the quinoa has absorbed all the water and is cooked, drain in a fine sieve.
- Meanwhile sauté the spring onions and corn in the butter, add the cooked quinoa and check seasoning. Stuff the courgette with the quinoa mix, place in a baking tray and add the vegetable stock. Cover with foil and bake in the oven at 160°C for approximately 20 minutes until just cooked and the courgettes are tender but not coloured.
Courgette flower:
- Gently remove the stamen from the inside of the courgette flowers trying not to dislodge the flower from the fruit.
- Combine all the other ingredients, retaining 10g of the hazelnuts for garnish. Put the cheese mixture into a piping bag and pipe evenly into the courgette flowers.
- Gently twist the ends of the blossoms to hold the cheese filling in place. Steam gently until the fruit is just cooked.
Courgette fritter:
- Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, cover and allow to stand for at least an hour. (Note: at first the mixture will feel very dry but the salt will draw moisture from the courgette to make a batter.) Depending on the time of year and where the courgette was grown you may need to add more flour to the mixture if it gets too sloppy or a little water if it is too dry.
- When it’s ready, drop teaspoon-sized pieces into the fryer and cook at 180°C until light, crispy and golden brown.
- Drain the fritters on kitchen paper and season with a little salt.
Roasted pepper and tomato sauce:
- Drizzle the peppers and tomatoes with half the oil and season, place in a hot oven (220°C) and roast until starting to blacken slightly.
- Sweat the garlic and shallot in the remaining oil, add the roasted peppers, tomatoes, tomato vine and vegetable stock.
- Simmer very gently for 20 minutes, then blitz all ingredients in a Themomix, Vitamix or food processor, pass through a fine sieve and return to a saucepan. Add the sugar and balsamic vinegar and check the seasoning.
To finish:
- Split the baby courgettes in half lengthwise, brush with a little olive or rapeseed oil, season and cook on a chargrill or solid top.
- Assemble all the courgette elements onto four plates, add the blowtorched and warmed Marzanino tomatoes, roasted pepper sauce, wild garlic oil, baby basil leaves and toasted hazelnuts.
Recipe courtesy of