As we are approaching the season of the (zucchini) courgette, out come all of my delicious and very simple recipes. Courgettes are delicious fried off with some freshly squeezed lemon and grated parmesan then tossed through pasta. Likewise chopped and filled into a fresh frittata and my absolute favourite has to be ‘Courgette fritters with feta’ (also on my blog). Also courgettes, cut into long strips and dipped in a batter, fried off and put into fresh bread, simple and so easy. The recipes for the use of courgettes are endless. If you have any recipes you would like to share please comment below.

You tend to find that in the area of Southern Italy where the majority of my family are from, the food is always seasonal, fresh and so simple. Inexpensive and ultimately so tasty too. Going to my mum and dads house is always a joy. They live on a farm and my cooks the most amazing food using fresh fruit and vegetable from my dads allotment. To be completely honest I have learnt allot from reading my cookery books but my main learning has come from my mum Solidea. She knows so much about Italian cookery. If I am ever in doubt or unsure, she will always have the answer and she has great ideas too, that we develop together.

A courgette is such a wonderful plant to grow. I have a small one in my garden but my parents have the space for more. So on Sunday they popped over to visit us along with four fresh courgette flowers in hand. Yet again, wow, simple and not even using the actual vegetable. This is clearly an added bonus.

Beautiful and fresh flowers….

Ready for frying……………..

Dipping into my batter, a small chili can also add a little heat to the batter….
I only had four flowers, so made enough batter for about 8 flowers, just to be sure.
50g plain flour
1 small egg
4 tbsp cold water
tip of a tsp of bicarb
salt and pepper
small bunch of parsley chopped.
1. Mix the flour, egg, water, bicarb and seasoning together. Then add in the chopped parsley.
2. In a frying pan add a good glug of rapeseed oil and heat.
3. Dip the courgettes into the batter and drip over the bowl to remove any excess batter.
4. Shallow fry for around 3 minutes on each side, until lovely and golden. Remove and place onto kitchen towel to soak up any excess oil. 

Removing excess oil on kitchen towel…

I tucked in, simply delicious….
A simple pleasure from my kitchen.
Carmela x