How to Make Goat Cheese-Stuffed Courgettes

Jun 12, 2011
Larry Ervin

Zucchini flowers are edible, too, often fried with the immature fruit attached. - Rasbak –wikiMedia Commons-GNU

Courgettes are easy to grow and easy to cook. This recipe for courgettes stuffed with goat cheese and aromatic vegetables dresses them fit for company.

Courgettes (as the French and English call them) are more commonly called zucchini in Italy and the US (zukes for short) or sometimes just summer squash. They are easy to grow. Maybe too easy. Two zucchini plants can produce enough for a family of four for the growing season.

Pick (or choose from your green grocer) courgettes that are no more than 1½ inches in diameter. If you grow zukes in your garden, keep an eye on them. The squash are most flavorful when young. A few days extra growth, hiding as they can under the canopy of big leaves, can turn tender courgettes into tough and bland bowling pin-sized specimens. Still edible, but generally best shredded and used in zucchini bread or zucchini fritters.

Goat Cheese-Stuffed Courgette Recipe

Serves 4 as a side dish

Stuffing ingredients:

2 medium courgette (zucchini)
1 small sweet red pepper, finely chopped
½ sweet onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp each of chopped, fresh oregano and thyme
¼ cup crumbled goat cheese
? cup Tbsp fresh breadcrumbs

Sauce ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 large tomato, diced
12 basil leaves, julienned (roll up the leaves and thinly slice across, to form skinny strips)
¼ cup + 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Method:

Cut the courgettes in half lengthwise and, using a soup spoon, scoop out the flesh and reserve. Take care not to pierce the skin.
In a shallow sauté pan over medium flame, heat a drizzle of olive oil and add garlic, gently sautéing just until soft. Do not let the garlic brown or the dish will be bitter.
Add onions, peppers, and courgette flesh to the pan. Sauté, stirring frequently, until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine the vegetables, herbs, cheese, and breadcrumbs.
Heat oven to broil.
Stuff courgette “boats” with cheese mixture and place on a lightly oiled broil pan. Brush with olive oil and broil, turning frequently, until skin is slightly charred and the courgettes are tender, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium flame, heat ¼ cup olive oil and add garlic, cooking just until soft. Add tomatoes, basil and balsamic vinegar, and very gently simmer, about 5 minutes.
Remove zucchini from oven and place on dish. Spoon sauce over top and serve.

Courgette Nutrition

Zukes are low in calories, 13 calories in half a cup raw, 18 calories cooked. They contain antioxidants and beta-carotene, trace quantities of the B vitamins, folic acid, potassium and even small amounts of vitamin C and calcium.

The floweers are edible, too. An Italian specialty is zucchini blossoms stuffed with a cheese mixture and sautéed or deep fried.

Still have more zucchini ready to pick?