Wednesday, January 14, 2015

In the kitchen - A recipe for using some of those bloody zucchini/courgettes!

Zucchini, mint & pine nut lasagne
Recipe: Luca Ciano, execitive chef, Barilla, Australia. (

2tbs extra virgin oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 large zucchinis, (or in this case one mutant zucchini aka marrow, halved lengthways, thinly sliced. I used one of those cheese slicer thingies and it was perfect for the job.)
1/3 bunch mint, not sure what that means so I just did a good handful (probably 1/3rd cup thinking about it)
200gms lasagne sheets, I used 8 sheets, 2 per layer.
1/3 cup(50g) pine nuts, toasted (didn't have any so left them out)
 1/4 cups(100g) grated Parmesan cheese (I used a pack of feta, crumbled, plus a little extra from a leftover packet)

White sauce
60g butter
60g plain flour
4 1/2 cups (1.125 ltr) milk
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
I know how to make a white sauce so rarely measure, I could have done with a touch more for the topping.
This recipe uses a 20cm x 27 cm baking dish

Preheat oven to 200C. Make sauce. melt butter in saucepan on medium heat. Add flour, cook, stirring until golden. Gradually add milk, until combined. Add nutmeg, season, cook for 10 mins or so until thickened. Set aside.

Heat in fry pan, over medium heat. add garlic and zucchini, cook for 2-3 mins, until softened. Stir in mint and season.
Spread 1/2 cup sauce in base of dish, cove with lasagne, add 1/2cup sauce, then 1/4 zucchini mix, 1/4 pine nuts. 1/4 cup parmesan
Repeat layers ending with a layer of lasagne and white sauce and parmesan

Bake for 25mins or until bubbling and golden. Rest for 10mins before serving.

Helga Von Trollop on Facebook had made this for friends and I liked the sound of it so she very kindly sent me the recipe. And I have to say it's a hit. I substituted a couple of ingredients and it was still great. Don't be afraid to substitute things, use what you have. I rarely follow a recipe exactly and I'm still alive, barely, but still alive.
Give it a go and tell me what you think. I bet there;s a few of you out there with a glut of zucchini, or courgettes, whatever.

It was just a 'small' zucchini!
 Max is not entirely sure of aforementioned squash.

We served ours with tomatoes fresh out of the greenhouse, with basil, olive oil & balsamic vinegar.

Deliciarse!

I haven't forgotten about the garden post, we've been doing some work out there over the last few days, I'll probably do it at the weekend.

Hope you're all having a great week, it's been scorchio here.

see ya



12 comments:

  1. I swear that every time I drop in on your blog I end up leaving hungry ... yummo!!
    xx

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  2. Ha ha love the dogs face, not impressed! X

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  3. Oh Yumm Sue ... I agree with the comment above :-) Your tomatoes look sooo good too, mine are not ready yet but am picking basil. Gosh you are a great cook, wish I had half your enthusiasm in the kitchen :-)

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    1. Get yourself a greenhouse, I'm so happy with it. I'm a go all out once in a while cook lol :D

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  4. Oh yes you bet right. If you come to my house you will probably leave bearing courgettes....or maybe beans ...or both.

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    1. At least some can be frozen, which I've done with some stuff, and usually I make chutneys etc, but I've got a cupboard full from last year and beyond lol

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  5. Sounds like a good recipe to try Sue.

    We have a glut of zucchinis at the moment too. I have been using mine in place of meat at meal time (just for me). I just slice length-ways, grill and eat as you would meat. It tastes pretty nice grilled. I have also stuffed a couple of my larger ones using a vegetarian stuffing and it is delish! And zucchini fritters added to a burger with salad instead of hamburger, this too is yum. Other than that I add them to salads in place of cucumber, make relish, grate and freeze for adding to stews etc. I even made zucchini chips yesterday along with kale chips :)

    xTania

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    1. I'm still using chutneys from a few years back lol. I do like fritters, I might have to fish out the recipe and make some :D

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  6. Thanks for sharing that recipe, I too have a glut and am faced with 6 this morning. I often make zucchini pickles which are awesome.

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    1. I've got pickles for Africa. I will be making the lasagne again, it was pretty easy

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