On February 6, 2019
By Rebecca Field
Courgette recipe: a great no cook starter
These make for a quick no-cook starter to serve. Not a traditional choice for a Scottish starter as courgettes are more difficult to grow here; they don’t tolerate a frost at all. However, it is possible even in the Highlands to have homegrown courgettes part of the year and they do taste so much better.
This is a good choice for the summer or during a power cut which is what happened to us the night we chose to add them to the menu.
The rolls are a wee bit fiddly to prepare if you’re in a rush as the mixture tends to stick to your fingers as you’re putting it on to the courgette slices but thanks to Gordon Ramsay for the original idea.
Also a tasty and excellent addition to the menu if you have courgettes overwhelming you from the greenhouse.
- 24 long strips of courgette (up to 4 small courgettes)
- 3 – 4 tbs of olive oil
- 3 – 4 tbs of balsamic vinegar
- 250g ricotta
- squeeze of lemon juice
- handful of basil leaves
- 50g toasted pine nuts
Slice the courgettes and place on a plate, preferably in one layer. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 20 minutes (Can be prepared up to 6 hours in advance.)
Mix ricotta with basil and pine nuts, adding lemon juice to taste. Place one tsp of the mixture at the end of each courgette strip and roll up. Once the rolls are made stand them on their ends on a serving plate; grind over some black pepper and drizzle with extra olive oil and balsamic vinegar to serve.
