Courgettes - what to do with them?!

Eggplant almond enchiladas with Mexican red sauce

From Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup minced onion
6 cups diced courgettes/eggplant
1 teaspoon salt, then more to taste
Black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 medium-sized bell pepper (any color), minced
1 cup minced almonds, lightly toasted
1 packed cup grated jack cheese
12 tortillas
Mexican Red Sauce (recipe follows)

Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet or Dutch oven. Add onion, and sauté for about 5 minutes over medium heat.
Add eggplant, salt, and pepper, and mix well. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant is soft.

Add garlic and bell pepper. Stir and cook 5 minutes longer, or until the pepper is tender. Taste to correct salt.
Remove from heat; stir in almonds and cheese.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Moisten each tortilla briefly in water then place approximately 1/4 cup filling on one side and roll up. Gently place the filled enchiladas in a baking pan, and pour a full recipe of Mexican Red Sauce over the top. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until heated through. Serve hot, with beans, rice, and green salad.

Mexican red sauce

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup minced onion
1 Anaheim or poblano chili, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt (possibly more, to taste)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
3 tablespoons minced garlic
3 cups chopped tomatoes (canned OK)
1 cup water or tomato juice
Black pepper and cayenne to taste (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the onion, chili, and salt, and sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until the onion becomes transparent. Add cumin, chili powder and half the garlic, and sauté for about 3 minutes longer.

Add the tomatoes and water or juice. Bring to a boil, partially cover, and turn the heat down as low as possible. Simmer for 30 minutes, adding the remaining garlic, and optional black pepper and cayenne to taste during the last 5 minutes or so.

NOTE: You can leave the sauce in chunky form, or smooth it out by puréeing it in a blender. (I like to use a hand-held immersion blender for this. Be careful not to splash!)

dice them, then boil for 8 minutes with a few cloves of garlic in the water..

Drain, and press as much water out of them as possible ( squeeze if you can). Then puree into a rich soup. Keep the garlic with them, so it gets blended too.
Pout into small bowls, add a dollop of yoghurt or sour cream, salt, pepper and chopped aragula and crumbled nori if you can get any.

This is the best soup EVER, and totally amazing creamy rich taste.

The trick is to boil the courgettes til soft but not watery and translucent, they should still be white when you drain them.

Such a great, rich soup, with none of that bitter watery taste.

I adore courgettes fried with onions, garlic, and mushrooms, little bit of butter too. Not very healthy but delicious. Can be even more special if you add a splash of white wine and some cream at the end. They're also quite nice if you roast them in the oven cut into wedges with other veggies - potatoes, peppers, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes etc in olive oil.

Slice into 1cm slices, chop an onion and some garic, fry slowly in a mix of oil and butter, turning once so they are lightly browned on both sides.
Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.
You can also add some chopped tomatoes or mix with cooked noodles and sweetcorn.

me

Cut them in thin slices. Put them in the microwave for 10 minutes with some sliced onions.
Transfer everything in a frying pan, and cook them with some oil,garlic and curry powder. Add any protein that you prefer, I usually add beans. When everything is cooked, put some of it in a toasted pitta bread and eat the rest too. Mmmmmmm!!! I love it!

I cut them in slices about half and inch thick, then get some olive oil heated in the frying pan and fry the slices standing on the cut ends till slightly brown. Turn from time to time to do both ends, then add some black pepper. Frying them with some chopped red peppers and onion is good too. Good luck.

Oops, I initially misread this as "Cougarettes- what do do with them?" I thought you meant 30-something sex-starved wannabe cougars. I would have said "send them my way", but you're obviously talking about vegetables. Vegetables are nice.

I eat courgetes in stir fries or roast them with other vegetables drizzled with olive oil. Artichokes can be roasted in the same way.

I sometimes go to a really nice restaurant called Sassos and they bring out for your side portion some courgettes in batter, they are soooooooooooooooo nice.... DO IT!

Bin 'em