Courgettes With Tomatoes Food

BEAUTIFUL COURGETTES

Steps:

• Place a large frying pan on a high heat with 1 tablespoon of oil. Peel and lightly squash the garlic clove and add to the pan, moving it around to perfume the oil. Slice the guanciale into rough 1cm chunks and add to the pan to let the fat render out. Trim the courgettes, halve lengthways, then chop into 2cm chunks. Stir into the pan, then season with a little sea salt and a good pinch of black pepper. Halve or quarter the tomatoes, deseed, and add to the pan. Pick, roughly chop and add the parsley leaves.
• Reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 15 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally. This gives you a really fresh, delicious courgette dish full of life, just how Nonna Maria made it. Or you can turn the heat down lower and cook it for 40 minutes, so you get a deeper, sweeter, frumpier result, adding a splash of water to loosen, if needed. Both ways are delicious, and celebrate courgettes at their very best. Just before serving, taste and check you've got the seasoning spot on.

COURGETTE & TOMATO QUICHE WITH FETA

Steps:

• Pre heat oven to 180 degrees C / 356 F. I use an electric fan oven, please adjust according to your own oven.
• Roll out the pastry on a floured surface, it should be wide enough to generously cover a round 22 cm oven proof dish. Place the pastry into to dish and gently push in the edges with your thumb. Roughly trim the edges leaving extra pastry for shrinking. Prick the pastry a few times with a fork. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes. Keep any leftover pastry for any cracks.
• Prep the vegetables while you wait for the pastry.
• Remove the pastry from the fridge. Place a round of parchment paper over the pastry and fill with baking beans. Bake in the top third of the oven for 15 minutes then remove the paper and beans. Check for any cracks and seal them up with the leftover pastry if needed. Bake again for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven a leave to cool a little.
• Beat the eggs in a bowl stir in the cream. Crumble in most of the feta keeping about a tablespoon aside. Add the thyme leaves, salt and pepper and spring onions and stir.
• Crumble the remaining feta over the pastry base, pour half the egg mixture over the pastry. Arrange the courgette and tomatoes around the egg mixture. Pour the remaining egg mixture over the courgettes and tomatoes then add spread the pine nuts over the top. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 30 - 35 minutes. The quiche is done when the top is golden and the filling is set and slightly puffed up over the pastry.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from the dish. Serve warm or at room temperature with a green salad.

CHEESY COURGETTE AND TOMATO BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°c (160 fan/ Gas 4/ 350F). Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the onions and garlic until soft. This should take 3-4 minutes over a medium heat.
• Add the chopped courgettes and dried Italian herbs (and smoked paprika if using), and continue to fry until the courgettes become tender.
• Pour in the chopped tomatoes, sugar, red pesto (if using) and salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Transfer the courgette and tomato mixture to a baking dish.
• Lay over the mozzarella and tomato slices.
• Top with the grated cheese, more dried Italian herbs, and breadcrumbs. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until golden and bubbling.

TOMATO & COURGETTE STEW

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 10 mins until softened and starting to go golden brown. Add the garlic and cook for 5 mins more.
• Add the courgettes and cook for about 5 mins until starting to soften. Tip in the tomatoes and give everything a good stir. Simmer for 35-40 mins or until tomatoes are reduced and courgettes soft, then stir in the basil and Parmesan.

COURGETTES WITH TOMATOES

Steps:

• Rinse and dry the courgettes. Cut them into slices and saute them in a frying pan with a little olive oil for approximately 8 minutes. Season to taste.
• Remove them with a slotted spoon and in the same oil, lightly fry the strips of cut bacon and finely chopped onion. Add the chopped garlic and the peeled and chopped tomatoes.
• Let it simmer for 10 minutes before adding the courgettes and continue to simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
• Lay out the courgettes on a plate and over the top pour the bacon and onion. Serve hot.

COURGETTES AND TOMATOES AU GRATIN

Steps:

• If you have the time, salt, drain and dry the sliced courgettes: layer them in a colander, sprinkling each layer with salt, and place a suitably sized plate on top. Weigh this down with a heavy object (like scale weights) and after 30 minutes quite a bit of water will have been drawn out. Dry them really thoroughly in a clean cloth and then they're ready to cook. Heat the oil in a frying pan large enough to hold the courgettes in one layer (otherwise do them in two batches), add the crushed garlic and sauté the courgette slices to a nice golden colour on each side. Next arrange layers of courgettes, cheese slices and sliced tomatoes in a heatproof gratin dish so that they overlap each other slightly like slates on a roof. You can watch how to skin tomatoes in our Cookery School Video. Finally sprinkle on the grated Parmesan, basil and salt and freshly milled pepper. Then bake on a high shelf in the oven for 30 minutes. Serve this with lots of crusty bread and a green salad with a sharp lemony dressing.