With all the rain of the past week or two the garden seems to be exploding and the courgettes in our veggie patch are fast turning into marrows!
They are so easy to grow but I am usually at a loss as to what to do with them apart from ratatouille so I investigated some recipes in my WI books this morning and came across a Courgette & Mint Soup ..... with a little tweaking it became Garden Veg & Mint Soup and here's how.
Ingredients
1 lb of courgettes
a handful of fresh mint leaves
1 onion
1 potato
a handful of garden peas
a few runner beans
salt & black pepper
1 pt vegetable or chicken stock
- Finely chop the onion and fry gently in some butter or olive oil
- Cut the courgettes into chunks and add to pan with the potato (chopped), peas and sliced runner beans
- Gently fry for a couple of minutes and then add the mint leaves
- Add the stock and simmer gently for 20 minutes
- Allow to cool for a short time and then liquidise the vegetables .... I find it easier to strain off the stock and put it to one side and then add the liquidised veggies back to it.
- Season to taste and add some more fresh mint if required.
It was absolutely gorgeous and can be eaten hot or chilled. My second portion is chilling in the fridge now for tomorrow's lunch.
I really should take more time to make fresh soups .... what better way of getting your 5-a-day with no preservatives and it really is so quick and easy.
Does anyone else have some ideas for courgettes????
Keep it clean though ;-)
That last comment made me laugh out loud. I have made a chocolate cake with courgettes in once and it was very tasty. Nice and moist a little like a carrot cake. My courgettes have not even got going yet think I planted them a little late.
ReplyDeletethis recipe sounds lovely, courgettes are so easy to grow but not the most inspiring vegetables to cook with. When we have grown them we always seem to end up giving loads away.
ReplyDeleteAnn x
I end up putting courgettes in just about everything this time of year! your soup looks yummy, will have to give it a try xx
ReplyDeleteSophie xx
Put parboiled sliced courgettes into some cous cous made with balsamic vinegar, a veg cube, olive oil and poppy seeds. Add soft fried onion, peas, fried red pepper, slices of cooked sausage, plus any small chunks of parboiled veg. Eat warm or cold with a mixed salad. :O)
ReplyDeleteRattlebox
Juice them! ;-) Chop them up into tiny pieces and put in a salad.
ReplyDeleteI've got several courgette plants and not one has a courgette on it :-(
When we lived in the north of England, which was a bit warmer, we grew lots of courgettes and I used to saute them in oil with chopped onion, garlic and tomotoes, all from the garden/greenhouse, to make a sort of ratatouille which froze very well. Hope you don't get any unwanted comments!
ReplyDeleteI'd recommend courgette cake too, and I have a recipe for courgette fritters somewhere too. Try the BBC Good Food website - they usually have lots of courgette recipes.
ReplyDeleteI love courgettes if they're not cooked too much. My fave dish for them is Jamie Oliver's Courgette Carbonara. You just slice courgettes length ways and removed soft middle bit, cut them into penne shapes, stir fry with bacon bits, add lots of black pepper, double cream, egg and parmesan, very tasty. It's even better the next day warmed up or cold. Lolo xx
ReplyDeleteThank you for the recipe. Our courgettes are now growing thick and fast. Blink your eye and they're large marrows. I wonder if this soup will freeze?
ReplyDeleteLove from Mum
xx