Recipes with courgettes.
Among the most loved and used products in the preparation of summer dishes, we find courgettes. Simple to cook and at the same time fresh, nutritious and with a delicate flavour. We will offer you several recipes with courgettes. But are we really sure we know everything about this vegetable, often present on our tables? Let's find out together!
Recipes with courgettes
What is courgette? And what are its origins?
Recipes with courgettes
The courgette is the immature fruit of a vegetable belonging to the Curcubitaceae family, in this case Curcubita Pepo.
The plant has a herbaceous appearance that grows in a creeping or climbing manner. Courgettes are harvested unripe, when they are about 20 centimeters long, preventing them from growing and ripening into a pumpkin.
Being of tropical origin, courgettes must be grown in warm or temperate climates, as the plant stops its development below 10-12°C. Furthermore, it requires a high rate of irrigation and requires very fertile soil.
The courgette is native to Central America, and had already been cultivated in Peru for some time around 1200 BC, but was only known in Europe after the discovery of America.
This fruit belongs to the same family as melons, cucumbers and yellow pumpkins.
Varieties of courgettes
Recipes with courgettes
There are around 500 varieties of courgettes worldwide. Among these we find:
- Long courgettes:with a cylindrical fruit. The color is generally dark green, but there are lighter, streaked varieties, and even with completely white or yellow skin. They are the most used variety of courgettes in recipes.
- Round courgettes:with a spherical fruit. It is much appreciated in the kitchen for recipes that require a filling, as its shape is ideal.
- Petissone courgettes:with a lobed shape and a stronger taste than that of common courgettes.
- Eccentric courgettes:which have a shape that cannot be traced back to the other types.
The most cultivated varieties in Italy are long courgettes and round courgettes.
Recipes with stuffed round courgettes
Recipes with courgettes
Ingredients:
4 round courgettes
250 g of minced veal or beef
200g of minced mortadella
4 tablespoons of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
3 slices of bread
1 egg milk to taste
basil to taste
extra virgin olive oil to taste
salt and pepper to taste
Procedure:
Cut the top cap of the courgettes and empty them with a teaspoon, leaving half the pulp aside. Boil them for 5 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain them and leave them to dry upside down on a cloth.
While they are cooling, brown the courgette pulp in a pan with a little oil or with a knob of butter to taste for about 5 minutes. Mash it very well with a fork, add the minced meat and leave to brown. Then transfer everything into a bowl and let cool.
Soak the loaf of bread without the crust in the milk.
Add the browned meat, mortadella, parmesan, squeezed and chopped bread, chopped basil leaves, lightly beaten eggs, salt and pepper. Work everything well until you obtain a very soft mixture with which to fill the courgettes.
Place the stuffed courgettes in an oil-greased baking dish and cover each courgette with the previously cut cap. Drizzle with oil and place in a hot ventilated oven for 25 minutes at 200°C.
How to choose courgettes at the supermarket?
To understand if they are fresh, it is advisable to touch the courgettes (I recommend you use gloves!!!!) and always choose small and firm ones, preferably with flowers. Other aspects that verify its freshness are: the presence of a light and thin fuzz on the surface, the clarity of the peel and the total absence of bruises.
It is possible to find them on sale all year round, but it is only from June onwards that these vegetables have the most nutrients within them. So you will have an entire summer available to make different recipes with courgettes.
Nutritional properties
Recipes with courgettes
Courgettes are a low-calorie food thanks to the presence within them of a large quantity of water (about 94%) and a very low percentage of lipids and proteins. Furthermore, they are low in sodium and rich in vitamins A, B1, B2, C and PP. They have a good content of calcium, iron, phosphorus and potassium. The peel is an excellent source of folic acid and carotenoids.
Courgettes are among the few foods that do not have dangerous contraindications. Thanks to their properties they help reduce bad LDL cholesterol and blood pressure.
They are characterized by high digestibility, increase the sense of satiety and promote the well-being of the unitary system.
They are sources of vitamins B9 and C and contribute to the well-being of the skin and our body's immune defenses.
Among the various recipes with courgettes, we propose one for the well-being of the skin: larecipe of one courgette-based mask to hydrate the face.
Ingredients
Half a courgette
1 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoons sweet almond oil.
Preparation
Wash the courgette, divide into two parts and extract the pulp of one half.
Centrifuge the courgette pulp and place it in a small bowl; add the honey, the sweet almond oil and mix everything together, stirring.
Apply to the face, avoiding the eye contour and leave on for 5 minutes.
Rinse with warm water and pat your face dry.
How to store courgettes
Recipes with courgettes
After cleaning them from the earth, the courgettes can be stored for about a week without problems. They should be stored in a cool, not too bright place and paying attention to humidity. Furthermore, they should not be slammed or overlapped too much, causing crushing. The fruit must be intact, if already damaged or cut in half it will last a few days.
As a storage container it is advisable to use a paper bag or a perforated fruit box. If they are stored in the refrigerator their shelf life is extended by a few days.
When you have a large quantity of courgettes available, a good way to preserve them is to jar them in oil or vinegar.
Recipes with courgettes in oil
Ingredients:
1kg of courgette
500ml of water
250ml of white vinegar
2 tablespoons of coarse salt
2 cloves of garlic
1 pinch of salt
peppercorns
fresh mint
extra virgin olive oil to taste
Procedure:
Wash the courgettes carefully and cut them into strips.
Place the courgettes in a bowl and sprinkle them with coarse salt (2 tablespoons).
Let them rest for about 2 hours so that the courgettes can lose excess water.
Rinse the courgettes and squeeze them.
Bring the water with the vinegar to the boil and add a pinch of fine salt. Cook the courgettes for 5 minutes and let them cool.
Sterilize 2 jars and arrange the courgettes, add extra virgin olive oil, chopped garlic, pepper and mint.
It is advisable to store courgettes in oil in a cool, dry place, away from heat sources, and wait at least a month before consuming them.
Courgette flowers: how to preserve them and recipes
THE flowers from the zuchinis they are harvested by detaching the stem. This operation must be done very delicately so as not to damage the plant, using a knife or your hands.
To clean them, you need to delicately open the flower and detach the internal pistil with the knife, then rinse the petals under a stream of water, being careful not to damage them. After washing them, simply let them dry on a clean kitchen cloth.
They can be stored in the refrigerator in the fruit and vegetable compartment, and it is advisable to consume them within 1-2 days.
If, however, you want to freeze them, it is advisable to stuff them and place them in an airtight container that will go in the freezer. For example, you can fill them and then fry them when you feel like it. But how to fill them? There are several recipes for preparing stuffed courgette flowers. Follow the recipe below and you won't regret it.
Roman style stuffed courgette flowers recipe
Recipes with courgettes
Ingredients:
10 courgette flowers
125g of mozzarella
10 anchovies in oil
300 g of flour
15 g of brewer's yeast
300g of water
salt to taste
peanut oil for frying to taste
Procedure:
Take a glass of water from the 300 g of the initial dose and dissolve the brewer's yeast in it.
Prepare the leavened batter pouring the flour into a bowl, then add the glass of water in which you dissolved the yeast.
Progressively continue to add more water, mixing gradually with a whisk until you obtain a mixture that is not too thick, but not too liquid. Add three pinches of salt.
Let it rest batter in the refrigerator covered with cling film for at least 60 minutes.
In the meantime, wash the courgette flowers delicately. Remove the pistil inside them and remove the stems. Dry them carefully.
Cut the mozzarella into not too small pieces.
Take one flower at a time and stuff it with a piece of mozzarella and an anchovy in oil. Continue in this way until you have filled all the flowers.
When you have finished, heat plenty of peanut oil in a steel pan with high sides. When the oil has reached the right temperature (around 180/190°), take the batter back from the refrigerator. The colder the batter, the crispier the frying will be. Dip the first courgette flower into the batter. Stir it well, using a spoon and a fork, until it is completely covered.
Dip the courgette flower directly into the pan with the oil.
Don't fry too many at a time so as not to lower the temperature of the oil and risk boiling them instead of frying them. Turn the flowers a couple of times, removing them from the heat when they are sufficiently golden on all sides, it will take a couple of minutes at most if the oil temperature is the right one. Using a slotted spoon, drain them on absorbent kitchen paper to dry them of excess oil.
Dry them well, salt them and bring them fried courgette flowers stuffed with anchovies and mozzarella directly on the table before they get cold.
Cook the courgettes: cooking times
Recipes with courgettes
The courgette, first washed and trimmed, can be served raw (cut into julienne strips with the salad) or cooked in any way: grilled, fried, boiled, baked, steamed or pan-fried.
Let's now see the different ways to prepare recipes with basic courgettes and the related cooking times:
Steamed courgettes:cut the courgettes into slices or cubes and place them on the basket suitable for steam cooking. Place the basket on the pan after the water has boiled, cover with the lid and cook for a few minutes, approximately 5-7 minutes. Once cooked, salt them and serve them with a drizzle of olive oil and aromatic herbs (such as fresh mint or basil) or, once cooled, use them easily for the recipe of your choice.
Boiling:you can immerse the courgettes in hot, already salted water for about 8-10 minutes, if they are cut into pieces, then drain and season them while they are still hot. Otherwise, if you need them cut in half for particular recipes (such as stuffed courgettes), cook a couple of minutes longer.
Baked courgettes:To cook the courgettes in the oven, first wash them under running water, dry them and then cut them into slices. You can choose whether to cut into rounds or slices lengthwise. Then cook in a preheated oven at 200°C for about 15/20 minutes, remembering to mix them at least 1 or 2 times to prevent them from sticking.
Using courgettes in cooking
Recipes with courgettes
Courgettes can be roasted, boiled or cooked in a pan, excellent as a light side dish both alone and together with other vegetables. They can be an excellent condiment for first courses, both in risottos and pasta and also in cream soups.
One of the original recipes with courgettes is to prepare a pesto with which to then season the pasta.
Zucchini Pesto Recipe
Ingredients:
200g of courgettes
30g of grated parmesan
30g of grated pecorino
125ml of extra virgin olive oil
30g of pine nuts
10g of basil
salt to taste
Procedure:
To prepare the courgette pesto, wash the courgettes, remove the ends and, using a grater with large holes, chop them. Place the grated courgettes in a colander, salt them lightly and let them rest for 30 minutes, so that they lose the excess liquid.
Then pour them into the mixer along with the pine nuts and basil leaves previously cleaned with a dry cloth.
Add the grated Parmesan, the Pecorino and a part of the oil. Then turn on the mixer and blend for a few seconds.
Add the remaining part of oil and blend until you obtain a smooth cream. Transfer the mixture into a bowl and use the courgette pesto as needed.
Courgettes are a very versatile vegetable, which lend themselves easily to the preparation of any type of dish, for example they are excellent in omelettes, in fillings for savory pies and pizzas. Furthermore, they can be stuffed with any type of filling: based on meat, cheese or even exclusively vegetables. If cut into slices and roasted they can be the protagonists of an alternative version to aubergine parmigiana or they can be an accompaniment to other dishes. They are an essential ingredient in minestrone and soups.
Read alsothis article
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!
Leave a Comment