I'm not shy to a "braai"
Chargrilled Courgettes with Whipped Feta, Plenty of Citrus, Dill & Raisins
Call it what you like, zucchini, baby marrow or courgettes, but one thing is for sure, you need to show the late Summer courgettes a little bit of flavour love and that’s exactly what I did!
I’m not shy to a braai :-) and I am forever charring or browning veggie things on or over hot coals. ONE BRAAI = FEW DISHES, my kinda vibe! I am currently obsessed with my smokey baba ganoush and I think you should make it too!
We are clinging on to the last rays of summer here in Cape Town and my veg delivery from Hannes reflected a confusing mixture of Autumnal veggies (sweet potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes) and late Summer produce (courgettes and aubergines).
As the season draws in, late Summer courgettes tend to be large and watery which is an excellent excuse to bring out all my flavour tricks.
101 Flavour Hacks for Bland’ish’ Veggies
Charring the veggies DIRECTLY on hot coals is a brilliant way to give them a good boost of oomph. I have a small smokey Joe which I use often, in as little as 20min with 30’ish charcoal briquettes (and firelighters) I can char to my hearts content! See my bbq recipes: aubergines, red peppers, corn !!
You can make this with regular sized courgettes too, simply place the grill over the coals, wait for the grill to heat up and add the courgettes to the hot grill, turning regularly, you do want colour (LOTS!) on the courgettes. TIP: any size aubergines are good to go directly on the coals as shown in the pic below.
Citrus is a great way to boost some flavour, I love the combination of the zest and juice as they have different flavour profiles. Tangy is great too and yogurt or jarred sun-dried tomatoes are good additions to counter the bland.
Strong flavours like ripe or salty cheese, olives, peppery extra-virgin olive oil and anchovies works well.
Hint of sweet is great to balance the citrus and strong flavours, I don’t like to cook with sugar, instead I like to keep things interesting by adding dates with their caramel flavour or raisons which I soak in hot water. You can also soak your raisons in far more interesting concoctions like Marsala, orange juice or rum!
Fragrant herbs or leaves, things like dill, rocket, mint, basil, coriander, marjoram, raddichio or origanum are all strong flavoured herbs and leaves that will pack a punch.
Crunchy Nutty things. Always! Remember to toast any nut in the oven until golden and fragrant (I don’t think a pan works as well), I know the price of pine nuts are just silly (?!) so use sunflower seeds (toasted!) instead. I had pine nuts so I used pine nuts.
Serves 4 as a side
A good Lunch Menu:
I made this with:
fire roasted venison
a lovely winters salad with Raddichio, Naartjies and Radishes
Ingredients
6 large courgettes (about 600g)
1 cup full fat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup feta cheese (1 wedge)
15g dill stalks removed, leaves only
1 garlic clove minced
1 lemon zest and juice to taste
1 lime zested
1/4 cup pine nuts toasted
1/4 cup raisons
1/4 cup mint roughly chopped
Method
Boil a kettle and pour the boiling water over the raisons to just cover them, leave to soak.
Pile about 40 briquettes (half a medium bag?) into a pyramid. Light the fire using plenty of firelighters, positioned strategically around the briquettes. - making sure you have active flames, it will take about 20 minutes for the briquettes to become white hot coals - THEN we have ‘braai’ lift-off!
There are two options here, option 1: if your courgettes are really large, add the courgettes directly to the coals, turning frequently until charred all over. Option 2: if they are on the smaller/med side, add the grill over the hot coals and add the courgettes to the hot grill, turning frequently. Set aside.
Scrape the char lightly from the courgettes with a serrated knife, slice the courgettes lengthways into long strips and then in half again - so they are bitesized. Keep aside.
Make the whipped feta by adding the yogurt, feta, garlic clove and half the dill to a food processor, season with a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper. Process until smooth and season with more lemon juice and salt and pepper if needed. You really want the the sauce to be flavourful, slightly salty and definitely zingy.
Finely chop the rest of the dill.
To plate, spread the yogurt onto a pretty plate, add the zest of 1 lime and 1 lemon. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Now add the courgettes over the yogurt, again season with a drizzle of olive oil, salt & pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
When you are ready to serve add the toasted pine nuts, dill, mint and raisons. ENJOY!
x Adré