Cooking up a big batch of courgettes is a twofold good idea at this time of year. First of all, courgettes are one of the best vegetables of summer and when gently cooked until squidgy and jammy, like in the below recipe, they easily form the base of SO many dishes. You’ll thank your former self for cooking them in a batch so they’re ready in your fridge for a hot evening when you don’t really want to cook. Secondly, they grow like crazy. If you’re lucky enough to have a garden (my tiny North-facing balcony in Hackney doesn’t cut the mustard for courgette growing) and you enjoy growing your own vegetables, you’ll know that courgettes are a dream whether you have green fingers or not. You’ll wait for them to get going then suddenly you’ll have an abundance. This batch cooking recipe is ideal for using up that glut.
I’ve kept the base recipe fairly simple here with some shallots, garlic and a few gentle whole seed spices to enhance the courgettes’ flavour, without making it tricky to combine with other flavours for later dishes. Feel free to tweak it to suit your tastes or what you already have in the cupboard – fennel or cumin seeds would make a good swap for caraway, for example, you could add chilli flakes or any other aromats you like. The key with the recipe is time but, don’t worry, not lots of it. From start to finish the jammy courgettes will take an hour and it’s a fairly hands-off process, so you could have them going while you do other things around the house, just stirring them occasionally.
It’s been pretty hot in London this summer so dinner’s that involve as little time as possible over a hot stove are a big win for me (especially as I’m often working at a hot stove all day with my job as a recipe developer and food stylist). For this reason, I’ve kept the additional recipes that use these jammy courgettes simple and quick. Mostly requiring you to warm through a few things rather than any actual cooking. The first recipe piles the courgettes onto a carlin pea dip for sweeping through chunks of bread or crudités as a snacky dinner or lunch, or as a sharing board when you have friends over. The dip is basically a hummus but using British-grown carlin peas instead of chickpeas (hummus translates to chickpea). As with a traditional hummus I’ve blended tahini and oil with the peas, then I’ve used cider vinegar rather than lemon juice – another British swap, this time for acidity. Carlin peas are dark brown giving the dip a speckled, light brown finish. They taste incredible and, as I use the jarred variety from Bold Bean Co., there’s no cooking and the texture is silky smooth.



Second we have a pasta dish, because pasta is always one of my go-to quick dinners. I’ve stirred rose harissa through the jammy courgettes to create a pasta sauce with a little fire. You can make the sauce in the time it takes to boil the spaghetti, thanks to your batch prep. The final recipe is jammy courgettes on toast. Almost not a recipe, I know, but so delicious. Pile the courgettes onto toast, either at room temperature or warm then top with some tinned fish, soft boiled eggs or some shavings of hard cheese. I hope that these recipes give you the inspiration to take your batch of jammy courgettes anywhere you like. They’re equally delicious with sticky rice and fish, or layered into a gratin or lasagne. Plus if you don’t think you’ll eat all of the cooked courgettes within a week or so, you can pop them in a food bag and freeze them for another time. Once cooked down they freeze well and will defrost in the fridge overnight or with a zap in the microwave.
The Recipes
Jammy courgettes
Serves 6-8
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or cold pressed rapeseed oil
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
3 shallots, sliced
4 large cloves garlic, sliced
1.5kg courgettes (about 7 medium), sliced
1 Heat the oil in your largest frying or sauté pan over a medium-high heat then add the seeds and sizzle for a few minutes until they’re smelling fragrant. Reduce the heat to medium and add the shallots and garlic with a good pinch of salt. Cook for about 8 minutes, stirring regularly, until turning soft and starting to collapse.
2 Add the courgettes and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring every now and then. There’s a lot so you may have to do this in batches initially to get them going, depending on the size of your pan, or you can split them across two pans to start with then combine once they’ve shrunk in size. They’re ready once they’ve completely collapsed and released their juices then got a little sticky, starting to catch the base of the pan. Season to taste then enjoy straight away or leave to cool and keep in a container in the fridge for up to a week.
Carlin pea dip with jammy courgettes
Serves 4-6 as a starter or side
600g jar carlin peas (including the stock)
200g tahini
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 large clove garlic, finely grated
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or cold pressed rapeseed oil, plus extra to serve
About ⅓ of the jammy courgettes (remove them from the fridge 30 minutes before serving if you’re having them at room temperature)
Toasted seeds of your choice (I used pumpkin)
1 Put the carlin peas, tahini, vinegar and garlic in a food processor or blender and whizz until all combined. Continue processing while drizzling in the oil and whizz until very smooth. Spread the dip out on a platter.
2 Warm through the courgettes for a few minutes at a low temperature or use them at room temperature. Spoon the courgettes over the dip then scatter over the pumpkin seeds. Serve with bread and crudites for scooping up the dip and courgettes.
Harissa courgette spaghetti
Serves 2
150g wholemeal spelt spaghetti (or the pasta of your choice)
About ⅓ of the jammy courgettes
1-2 tbsp rose harissa, depending on how spicy you’d like it
Optional toppings: grated cheese, toasted nuts or toasted seeds, fresh herbs
1 Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil then add the pasta and cook for 1 minute less than the cooking instructions, until al dente. Meanwhile, put the courgettes in a large pan over a medium heat to warm through, stirring every now and then. Stir through the harissa.
2 When the pasta is done, scoop out a mugful of the cooking water then drain. Tip the drained pasta into the courgette pan along with a good glug of the cooking water. Stir well to combine the pasta in the harissa courgette sauce. Serve with the topping of your choice.
Courgettes on toast
This isn’t so much of a recipe as a serving suggestion.
The courgettes are the star of the show here. I topped them with tinned sardines as a simple way to make them into a full meal but you could also add halved soft boiled eggs, shavings of a hard cheese or slices of a tender soft cheese. You can use whatever bread you have, toasted or fresh. Drizzle it with a little oil (you can use the oil from the fish tin if that’s your topping), then pile on the courgette and your chosen topping.
Mindful mentions
A Bit About Beans // I used Bold Bean Co Carlin Peas for the dip recipe above. I love their jarred beans because they are great quality and taste amazing – even cold, straight out of the jar. They are a bit of a revelation because beans are incredibly good for us, providing a great source of protein and fibre, and good for the planet. Beans are nitrogen fixing so growing them helps improve the quality of the soil, which is really important for resilient farming and capturing carbon. Beans are therefore a key part in the regenerative farming movement which aims to increase the quality of our soil (which has been battered by modern farming which uses lots of chemical fertilisers) and promote biodiversity. All of Bold Bean Co’s beans are great, but I’m particularly fond of the carlin peas as they are made in collaboration with Hodmedod’s who grow the peas in the UK with the aim of supporting British farmers and replenishing our soils. This mention is not an ad, I just love their beans and the work they’re doing to improve our food!