Abundance of courgettes

Ok my "sow the whole packet, and see what happens" approach, has come back to bite me on the butt!! I have an abundance of courgettes..... 13 in the fridge and loads waiting to be harvested!!

Any thoughts on recipes to use them up please? Hubby isn't keen on them through sauces (e.g. meatballs etc!)

 

We freeze them and use them for "bulk" in stews / mince-meat cooking during the winter.

If you have too many then cull some of the plants. No sense looking after plants that are producing products that are excess

 

Slice them thin, salt them and leave them to stand for a while (the salt draws out a lot of the moisture). Then shake them dry, dust them in seasoned flour, fry them until golden, and serve with a nice tsatziki dip (yoghurt, cucumber and parsley I think, with a touch of garlic).

 

Last year I made a version of this courgette spread:

http://food.visitphilly.com/zucchini-spread/

It was extremely tasty and you could vary the herbs to taste. Next time I'll make sure I avoid allowing the garlic to brown too much. Excellent on toast/French bread as a snack or starter.

As the courgettes cook down a lot you can really use up a big pile of them! Good for ones that are almost marrows, as well.

 

heard you can
Pickle them. there is also zucchini bread --then freeze.

 

Some previous courgette threads (I'm fairly certain that every gardening forum gets a "help what can I do with all my courgettes" thread at some time during the Summer)

http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/courgette-glut-usage-ideas.1877/
http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/do-courgettes-freeze-well-please.2892/
http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/how-to-cook-courgette.8201/
http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/courgetttes-on-allotment.8235/

We use loads in Lasagne, Tuna Pasta, Courgette & Onion Curry, Stir Fries, even in fish pies and sometimes I'll have them as part of a fried breakfast (cooked with loads of garlic). I've even used raw yellow courgettes cut into strips for use with dips.

My 8 early sown 'patio' courgette pot plants started off in a polytunnel are started to wane, but the couple of dozen plants (though Mypex) in open ground are taking over from them. I'm even thinking of sowing some more mini-bush courgette seeds for pot grown plants put back under cover later on to extend the growing season as my courgette plants are often exhausted by September and have lost most of their leaves to powdery mildew.

We tried that, but nobody liked it. Courgette wine was ghastly, but
Courgette (in lieu of marrow) & Plum/Damson chutney works.

At the end of the season, if you deliberately let some grow to 'special' size (like what you discover on your return from Summer hols), they will last much longer than if you pick the last ones at standard size. We've eaten our last courgettes in December.

 

With our Sunday lunch today we enjoyed grated courgette with grated beetroot and pumpkin seeds as a side salad. MrK thought it needed onion, which sounds good to me, so next time I'll do it that way. I was surprised to notice that raw courgette has a pleasantly mild nutty flavour. We also like baked stuffed courgette, courgette muffins and courgette chocolate cake, and I'm going to try grated courgette and lemon spaghetti, which sounds oddly good.

 

There are some lovely recipe ideas here, but courgette sowing is one of the few areas of my life where I'm able to be self-disciplined.

Another solution is to give them to people at work/social groups by picking all the ones you've got ripe and putting them on a table with a sign saying 'Help yourself'. You get a warm glow inside...and also a couple of days holiday from courgettes!

 

Thanks, I'm glad that somebody else has confirmed that raw courgettes are OK.

We take bags of them with us to use whilst on holiday, otherwise the courgette levels can be rather oppressive on our return.

Mrs Scrungee wants to try that because she's heard that the courgettes give it a nice moistness plus depth of flavour. Which recipe do you use?

 

Think it was @Marley Farley that gave me a quick pickle recipe that was really nice

 

Thanks everyone! Lots of ideas

 

Just one more.....
Make courgette ribbons using a potato peeler. Mix ribbons in a bowl with pine nuts, garlic, basil, salt, pepper and olive oil. Leave to marinade for at least 30 minutes. Just before serving, warm through thoroughly.

 

sounds lovely!

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/633634/chocolate-courgette-cake
@Scrungee, I have good results from this one.