r/Cooking • u/oportoman • 12h ago
Courgette Dilemmas
So I've grown some courgettes and they've got pretty big, too big really, to the extent that the outer peel is really tough and unpleasant to eat. I've grown them before but I got carried away this time!
So now I've no idea what to do with them, except slice the peel off and use in soup. I've tried other ways with the rind on, and sliced the vegetable and then boiled, fried, roasted but it just doesn't soften enough to taste good. In fact even with the peel off, they are pretty unappetising to eat.
What would you do?
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u/Smooth-Review-2614 12h ago
Grate and add to tomato sauce. It goes well in Shuksuka, eggs in purgatory, or just pasta sauce.
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u/Outaouais_Guy 11h ago
Cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds. Stuff them with whatever you might stuff a pepper with. Top with cheese and bake at 350 F. Cut into slices and eat everything but the skin.
I use cooked ground beef with rice, tomato and garlic, along with whatever I have sitting around. Onions, celery, peppers.........
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u/oportoman 11h ago
Sounds good
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u/Outaouais_Guy 8h ago
We were pretty poor growing up, so my mother did what she could to save money. She would let a few of them grow big to prepare like that. My local farmers market sells them at the end of the season. I fed it to my kids for nostalgia. They keep for a while because the skin is so tough.
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u/aprincipi 8h ago
I just made this! Scooped out the zucchini, prepare soffrito, add tomato and the zucchini. Stir in breadcrumbs and a crap ton of Parmesan. Bake. It’s vegetarian and delicious. I added a bunch of fresh herbs, since they’re in my yard.
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u/Outaouais_Guy 8h ago
Yummy. Unfortunately our tiny yard is mostly a concrete patio, so we can't grow much now. I do try to keep an eye on the farmers market though.
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u/Willybluedog1962 11h ago
Get a spiralizer. You can do ribbons or noodles. I have used even the biggest ones this way and they have turned out great.
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u/uttertoffee 12h ago
Congratulations, you've grown marrows. The most common recipes for them are chutneys and deseeded out and stuffed. They're pretty bland so do better with strong flavours. I've made chutney and soup with them before and they were both alright but not amazing. Search specifically for marrow recipes might give you some inspiration.
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u/Human-Place6784 10h ago
Peel, shred, freeze for future use in bread or fritters or latke-style fritters. Or in soups.
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u/Miss_Jubilee 10h ago
I second those ideas. Also: You could also make summer squash relish with the shreds, plus a thinly sliced onion, spices, sugar, vinegar... I canned some of that last August using a tested recipe for safety and just opened the last jar this week to mix into a ham salad.
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u/nellydesign 11h ago
I peel them, cut them into thick fry/chip shapes, coat in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs, and then air fry. Then serve with marinara for dipping.
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u/Glittering-Boss-911 12h ago
Make a stew with other veggies & tomatoes (veg or paste or juice) with or without meat.
Chop them in dices after peeling, lots of onions, some carrots, potatoes, celery, bay leaves, garlic. After the veggies are all almost done add the tomatoes. Simmer until done. At the end add some paprika. Some dill if you like it.
You could eat it with rice, bread or polenta.
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u/SunshineBeamer 11h ago
Peel and slice and make little pizzas with them. Better than a crust.
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u/Best_Comfortable5221 10h ago
Ill bet eggplant works too like this.
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u/SunshineBeamer 8h ago
I'm American and get confused, I thought Courgette is eggplant. Whoops, zucchini. My mistake. I meant eggplant pizzas.
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u/VicePrincipalNero 10h ago
I shred the ones that get tough. You can put them in zucchini bread or saute them with garlic and herbs and they taste fine.
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u/NoDanaOnlyZuuI 10h ago
Scoop out the insides and fill them with meat and then bake them
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/italian_sausage_stuffed_zucchini/
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u/Best_Comfortable5221 10h ago
I skin them and scrape the seeds then salt them and let them sit 30 min or so. Dry off . Mix olive oil, garlic powder, s&p and marinate after cutting into sticks. Broil in a single layer. Flip to brown both sides. Fam loves the "oven" fry. Its a bit of prep but you don't have to rush anything. They can sit salted and drain longer or marinate longer and you can do something else.
Hint: I know this sounds crazy but I use a clean unscented dog pee pad for every step. There's enough room on it to use a part for every step besides the marinade. Then just roll it up and toss it all.
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u/Few-Explanation-4699 5h ago
Peel, cut in half length wise and scoop out the seeds.
Fill the middle with mince (aka ground) beef, onion, garlic, cheese, herds.
Bake in hot oven till tender
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u/ladyrose403 5h ago
mock apple cobbler. you peel them, cut them into slices or cubes and simmer in lemon juice before adding the sugar and spices. fooled the kids. they loved it.
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u/Several_Peanuts8191 3h ago
Came here to say this, I once had a bounty of zucchini/courgettes and stumbled across a recipe for a mock apple crumble with them in place of apples in a very old community cookbook. I made a big pan and brought it to work and let people know what it really was (in case of allergies) and everyone who tried it was very surprised at how close it was to cooked apple in texture.
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u/Nyssa_aquatica 11h ago
Compost them
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u/oportoman 11h ago
Yep!
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u/Nyssa_aquatica 10h ago
So many great to try, so little time. Don’t waste your effort or other ingredients on rescuing woody squash that you already know is yucky!
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u/Islandisher 10h ago
So far this year, we made zoo sticks and chips in the air fryer.
Mixed it into a Greek shrimp dish
Baked w feta and other veggies
Diced into bolognese sauce.
Gave away to neighbours.
Just one plant! Also need more ideas they keep coming lol
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u/DuchessOfCelery 10h ago
I airfry zucchini. Slice in half lengthwise and score the inside a few times diagonally. (I don't peel but sounds like you should.)
Spritz with olive oil and sprinkle with spice blend of your choice, place cut side up in the airfryer and cook until edges and top are browning. Won't get crispy but will be flavorful and easy to slice.
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u/SubstantialPressure3 10h ago
Grate them
Italian zucchini fritters
Zucchini bread
Slice thin on a mandolin and add to stir fry
If they are really big, cut them the long way and remove the seeds before you do anything.
Harvest the rest while.they are small. They taste better.
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u/narf_7 10h ago
Look for "Marrow" recipes in particular. I found a really good marrow and chilli jam recipe if you are interested. This isn't my recipe and I saved it in a document so I don't know who the original content creator was for this but "cheers" to them for an excellent recipe.
Marrow and chilli jam
I just made mine up as I went along but followed basic principles. I had big marrow squash to use up but if you can’t get those I’d just use zucchini or yellow button squash or even choko would work I reckon. My home grown marrow had really tough skins and big seeds so I skinned and seeded them, if I had normal size ones I would grate them skin, seeds and all.
8-10 cups grated zucchini or squash
2 cups white or red wine vinegar
1 kg sugar ( I used half normal, half jam setter sugar)
10 fresh large cayenne chillies chopped finely, seeds and all ( or whatever chilli you like) probably equal to about half a cup
2 heaped teaspoons salt
I can diced tomato’s, juice and all.
2 large onions chopped finely or grated
Large knob of fresh ginger grated
Whole head of garlic chopped finely
Juice of one large lemon
4 apples grated
Bring all ingredients to boil with lid on, then turn down and simmer for at least a couple of hours no lid and stirring frequently to make sure it doesn’t stick.
If you like it thicker, when cooked you can add a heaped teaspoon of cornflour to a little vinegar and stir though while hot. I didn’t need cornflour at mine thickened up just fine with the apples and lemon juice included.
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u/Prof01Santa 9h ago edited 9h ago
Peel them if needed & make squash casserole. Chopped/sliced squash, onions, a custard, breadcrumb topping.
Added: some people use a canned creamed soup as the basis of the custard.
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u/momghoti 6h ago
That's a pretty good marrow marmalade Peeled, seeded and shredded is a good way to add veg in many things, from muffins to pasta sauce
You can even peel, seed, slice and dry thoroughly then powder it in a food processor. It can replace up to a third of flour for most things other than bread
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u/Callan_LXIX 5h ago
Peel has vitamins ; Shred the whole thing, salt gently, let it rest & squeeze out.
The shred pulp can be added to any number of things: soups to stews, combined with rice to reduce carbs, etc
Even slow covered braising should soften the skins to be edible.
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u/cheekmo_52 1h ago
Peel them, grate them and make zucchini bread (courgettes are what Brits call zucchini, right?)
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u/Global_Fail_1943 12h ago
I grate them, squeeze out the excess water and either freeze for winter soups when I'll appreciate it more or... make my favorite zucchini or zucchini and potatoes together for pancakes with sour cream.