my favourite way to eat courgettes

Courgettes are an oft-maligned vegetable, but I really like cooking with them. BBQd, grated into fritters and loaves, roasted... However my absolutely favourite way to eat them is stuffed, which is kind of old school and a bit fiddly to be honest, but I think totally worth the effort. The recipe is based on one from Julie Biuso, she suggests 'making more than you need as they are so delicious' and I agree!

My version of the recipe is fairly vague and more of a starting point, change the filling to suit by adding chopped capsicum, bacon etc as takes your fancy. Just don't skimp on the parmesan...

Stuffed courgettes with herbs and parmesan

For four people I would use at least a dozen courgettes. Cut about 6-8 of them into halves and use a pointy teaspoon to hollow out the flesh. Grate or finely dice the rest of the courgettes and combine with the scooped out bits.

Finely dice an onion and cook gently with some olive oil until it is soft and translucent. If they start to catch on the pan I add a little water to loosen them rather than more oil. Add a couple of cloves of chopped garlic and cook another minute, then the courgette 'insides' plus the extra grated courgettes and any other veges, and some salt and pepper (be generous as courgettes tend to need it, especially at this time of year when they can be a bit watery). Cook until the water cooks out of the courgette. Cool slightly then grate in fresh parmesan to taste, I do about 1/4 cup. Add some chopped fresh oregano or marjoram, an egg, and a handful of fresh breadcrumbs to bind the mix.

Spoon filling back into the hollowed out courgettes, grate over more parmesan and bake at 200c for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped Italian parsley and more parmesan if you like, and serve warm. These are especially good with lamb.