More Squashed Courgettes
More from me on why I like squashing courgettes, by boiling the courgettes whole, you are cooking it. By squashing it, you are then compressing it to get rid of the water to create a creamy dense cooked courgette which you can flavour however you like to flavour it, you won’t end up with lots of watery juices if you boil and then press it, however you then chose to use the cooked courgettes.
In my cookbook TOMATO, there is a recipe for tomato gratin with cream and mustard, it really couldn’t be simpler, and I’m here to say, squashed courgettes work perfectly in this recipe. If you sliced the courgettes and cooked them without cooking and pressing, you would end up with loads of watery courgette cooking juices in the dish, and not just the thickened with tomato juices mustardy cream, as you do here in this recipe.
Courgettes are boiled whole, as is, with the stems on and not cut into at all until easily piercable with a skewer, you can then drain and press over a colander until you are ready to cook with them again. They are such a versatile ingredient and especially brilliant when prepped like so.
In other news; lots of comments on yesterday’s recipe for squashed courgettes, to make it clear, it’s not hummus, as I say, it’s a dish made of courgettes flavoured with the same ingredients used to make hummus. I do reiterate this in the recipe for ‘hummus’ and ‘for want of a better word’, thanks to all who got in touch.
INGREDIENTS
4 large courgettes
3 - 4 tomatoes, cut into thick slices
2 garlic cloves, grated
4 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed
200mls double cream
Plenty of black pepper
Salt, to taste
1 heaped tsp dijon mustard
40g cheddar or similar grating cheese, gruyere would be ace here
30g parmesan
2 handfuls of coarsely chopped breadcrumbs, ciabatta is good here for example
METHOD
Have a large pan of well salted water on the boil. Add the courgettes exactly as they are. Boil for around 15 minutes, until easily pierceable with a skewer. Remove from the heat and place courgettes in a colander to drain over a bowl. See instagram reel!
Press the courgettes with a very heavy weight set over the colander and bowl for at least 30 mins.
Remove the weight and put the cooled, pressed courgettes on a chopping board and remove the stems and any woody end bits.
Slash the down the middle of the courgettes, fanning slightly along the length and arrange in a baking dish.
Top with sliced tomatoes and thyme leaves.
In a small bowl mix together the cream with plenty of black pepper and grated garlic.
Add the cheese to the top of the squashed courgettes and sliced tomatoes.
Drizzle over with the mustard cream and scatter over with the chunky breadcrumbs.
Bake in hot oven at 180C for around 30 minutes until bubbling and rich tasting. Flash under grill if you need a bit more colour for 3 minutes or so.
Remove from the oven and settle for 5 minutes before serving with good bread to mop, or as a delicious side dish.