Lemon Cured Courgette

This recipe was developed during late summer, but as with most recipes, the ingredients are available all year.

This turned out to be a great weekend lunch that all three of us enjoyed. It was crisp outside so as much we wanted to bask in the sun, we had to dine indoors. The ingredients were able to retain some of that summer sun and along with memories of a recent trip to Italy, not all was lost. So with optimism, a successful meal and a happy toddler we made the most of it.

The courgette, coriander and parsley are from our little garden and made the meal extra exciting for Baby Green. Swirling dirt around in the garden is very zen for the little man. The tomatoes were purchased at one of his favourite hangouts, the Spitalfields City Farm, and the bread came out of our oven, another favourite location, if only he could climb in there and touch that light! To make it more of a substantial meal we also added some olives and guacamole.

The courgettes take 2 - 4 hours to soften and soak in the flavours of the marinade, so plan ahead. We made our way to our local flower market and picked up some chilli plants which we are very excited to eventually use. Chilli jam anyone?

Ingredients:

• 3 X medium to small courgettes, since the whole squash will be used, its best if they are not too big as the larger they are the less tender the centre
• 1 X punnet (300-400 g.) of tomatoes, heritage variety if available
• 1 X large avocado
• 1 X small handful of parsley
• 1 X small handful of coriander
• 1 X lime
• 2 X lemon
• 1 X clove garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Loaf of rustic wholegrain bread
• Olives in brine.

Method:

Courgette:

• Slice courgettes as thinly as possible, a vegetable peeler works very well, salt all slices well in a bowl and let sit while you prepare the rest of the marinade and guacamole
• Once you've finished with the marinade and guac, gently rinse and pat dry the courgette slices. Put back into the bowl (also rinsed and dried), add the marinade and refrigerate covered for 2-4 hours, 4 is better, more may make it a little too soft and they may fall apart. We enjoyed it with a texture that had a bit of a bite to it.

Marinade:

• Gently crush the garlic with the back of a knife
• Roughly chop the parsley
• Juice the lemons and put into a jam jar with garlic clove, two tbs of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper and half of the parsley, and shake

Guacamole:

• Scoop avocado flesh into a bowl and add the juice of the lime and a sprinkling of salt and mash with a fork, once you are happy with the consistency (for this meal I prefer it mushy so that it stays on the slice of bread) and add the chopped coriander. Refrigerate until ready to use

Tomatoes:

• These can be a bit tricky as you will need a little patience and a very sharp knife if you are up for slicing them very thinly so that they resemble a carpacio, otherwise roughly chop bruschetta style. Prepare these just before serving.
• Once sliced drizzle with your finest olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper.

Equipment:

• Vegetable peeler
• Sharp Knife
• Jam jar