With the rain finally relenting here in Almaty, Kazakhstan, it’s time to hit the great outdoors for the BBQ season. Courgettes, zucchini to our North American friends, are in their prime at the moment and this versatile vegetable makes a great addition to a barbecue platter.
One thing about courgettes is that they contain a lot of liquid, so before cooking you can remove some of the excess by cutting the courgette into two slices down the middle and then use a knife to cut diagonals into the fleshy side. Sprinkle with salt and leave for 30 minutes then squeeze out the excess liquid.
Pour some olive oil over the courgette halves into the diagonal cuts and then cook on the grill, turning to brown both sides. These courgette slices can also be baked in a hot oven (180 c) for 30 minutes or fried in a pan until browned. We served them with some parboiled new potatoes, finished on the grill, and a slab of char-grilled halloumi. Add a green salad for a great outdoor meal.
It’s that time of year again when you’ve got more courgettes than you know what to do with so here at KKC we’re looking at scarpaccia from Italy’s Tuscany region. Our take on this crispy tart uses chickpea flour, thinly sliced courgettes, garlic scapes, rosemary, parsley and the mystery ingredient, hemp seed oil.
Try a slice of KCC’s scrappy, hempy courgette hash!
A friend in Uzbekistan recently gave KCC a bottle of locally-produced, premium quality, first pressing hemp seed oil from a company called Leodar. Hemp seed oil adds an earthy, nutty flavour to dishes and salad dressings.
Hemp, the non-psychoactive cousin of marijuana, grows wild in many parts of Central Asia. It’s ideally suited to the arid conditions found here – a much better choice than thirsty cotton. Besides oil, this versatile plant can be used for textiles, paper and bio fuel amongst others.
The return of the scapes!
Regular readers may well remember garlic scapes, the edible stem that grows from the garlic bulb, from a previous recipe – a variation on the mücver theme. This flavoursome peduncle gives a mild garlicky kick to pies and tarts, soups and salads, pesto and stir fries.
Ingredients (serves 4)
500 g courgette – thinly sliced with a potato peeler or similar
50 g garlic scapes – cut into 1 – 2 cm slices
2 teaspoons rosemary
5 g fresh parsley
50 g chickpea flour
25 ml hemp seed oil (or any flavoursome oil you have to hand)
75 ml water, including any liquid left over from straining the sliced courgettes
Method
Thinly-sliced courgettesGarlic scapes – cut into 1-2 cm slicesCombine the courgette slices, garlic scapes and rosemary and mix with your hands until courgette softens and starts releasing liquidPut in a colander, place a plate on top, weigh it down with some heavy jars and leave to drain for at least an hourMix the chickpea flour with the hemp seed oil and water , including any water from the courgettes, to make a smooth batterAdd the parsley and miix the courgettes with the batterPut the mix into a greased, heavy-based frying pan, press down with a potato masher and cook over a low heat for ten minutes. Then finish off under a hot grill for another ten minutes until the top is browning and going crispy. Alternatively, cook in the oven for 30 minutes at 180 c.Cut into four slices and serve.
Knidos Cookery Club 