courgettes revisited

So as promised in the previous post here is my courgette recipe.

We have been quite sensible this year and have grown 1 green and 1 yellow courgette plant on the plot. (Last year we had 4 plants and the remnants of the glut are still in the freezer!)

I had tried couscous stuffed red peppers whilst on holiday this year and wondered what courgette would be like. I regularly make a Moroccan style couscous and thought it would be perfect for the experiment, all that was required was a courgette/marrow big enough.

I started using a good food recipe few years ago but over time have adapted it to suit.

Ingredients for the sauce:
a dash of olive oil
1 red onion or 4/5 shallots (depending what I have in the veg store) cut chunky
1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic sliced thinly.
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 red pepper cut into chunks about the size of a 10 pence piece
2 teaspoons Ras el hanout
1 tin chopped tomatoes
salt and pepper
1 tin of brown chickpeas drained and rinsed.

For the couscous:
100g couscous
juice of half a lemon (picked fresh from our tree)
6-8 dried apricots cut into 6 (depends what mood I'm in as to how many I add)
half a pint veg stock

and of course 1 large courgette. Cut in half (ours was that big I got Mr P to quarter it for me)


Method:

Prepare all vegetables etc. Scoop out the seeds from the inside of the courgette. Score the inside of the courgette and add a little freshly ground salt and black pepper. (I forgot to ask Mr P to score the courgette, something I would have automatically done in the past, so it took longer for it to cook)

Heat a large frying pan or wok with lid on a medium heat then add the olive oil. stir to cover the bottom of the pan then add the garlic and onion and cook for a few minutes.
Next add the carrots and peppers cook for 5 minutes then add the ras el hanout. Cook for for a couple more minutes until fragrant. I love the smell of the ras el hanout it gives a warm feeling to a wet summer's day.

Then add the tinned tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes. I like to use freshly ground sea salt and black peppercorns, it also means that I get the Little P's to help with the cooking.

 Add a tablespoon of water if necessary. It's important not to let the sauce dry out.

While the sauce is simmering pour your couscous into a bowl. Add the lemon juice and stir, then the chopped apricots and stir again. Finally add the vegetable stock and stir a final time. Cover and leave for 5 minutes. (sometimes I'll add fresh ground salt and black pepper again depends on my mood)

After 5 minutes fluff the couscous with a fork. (This has definitely got to be one of the easiest recipes ever!)

When the sauce has reduced add the chickpeas and stir for a couple of minutes.

Add the couscous to the pan. (you can serve the sauce on top of the couscous but for this recipe I got  Mr P to add it to the pan for me, not an easy one handed job)

Stuff the courgette with the couscous mixture.

Cover with foil and bake around 180 degrees C until the courgette is soft. (should take about 40-45 mins however not preparing the courgette properly ours took over an hour!)

Uncover and bake for a final 5 minutes for a crunchy top.

Best served out the skin.

Nom, nom, nom! ;)

Mr P had leftovers for dinner the following day.

Off on holibobs soon fingers crossed we don't return to a jungle. Thanks for reading :)