101 ways to eat our massive courgettes

WHAT KATI DID NEXT:

THIS weather is a bit of a pain isn’t it? Not knowing whether its going to rain or shine makes for heavy packing when you are travelling around with two kids.

Rain coats, t-shirts, shorts, trousers, wellingtons, sandals and suncream, not to mention the nappies, wipes, sun hats and all the accoutrements that come with being a mother.

There is, however, one thing that flourishes in this weather and it’s the garden.

Getting back from holiday we encountered a jungle in the back, especially in the veg patch. We had potatoes to feed half of Oldham, our beans had started to flower, the tomatoes had started to ripen and, cor blimey, we had award-winning size courgettes.

They were enormous. Massive. I have only ever seen gardening shows with vegetables that size. That and the “Carry On” series.

We brought them all into the kitchen and lined them up along the whole of the work surface. That is the problem with growing your own, it means that when one thing is ready to eat, you get a whole rooms worth at the same time and so, like us, you end up giving most of them away as you can’t possibly stomach that many of one thing in one go.

So away the courgettes went to family, friends, neighbours and unnerved members of the public, and still our kitchen table groaned under the weight.

Now we had to start getting creative. I have been on the internet every night this week looking at new and exciting ways to cook and eat a courgette.

Some recipes are terribly boring and you wonder how it is that these chefs get paid to write them — add a little bit of butter and eat type thing.

But some are wonderful. Greek yoghurt, mixed with garlic and lemon juice, being careful not to curdle, and then poured over grilled courgette, which have been brushed with olive oil, is much recommended. Even the kids loved it.

We have eaten them covered in cheese sauce and baked, we have sauteed them in butter with some sea salt, we have griddled them and added them to a salad with sun-dried tomatoes.

But we have now exhausted the list we’ve found. If anyone can recommend a good courgette recipe we would be eternally grateful.

Just not ratatouille. We hate it.