GRILLED COURGETTES WITH PARSNIP PURÉE & ROCKET PESTO

You can generally find courgettes in a range of different shapes and colours at food markets these days. Grilling courgettes is one of the easiest ways to cook them, as there’s hardly any prep – you just wash, slice and grill them.

FOR 4–6

1kg mixed courgettes (round, yellow and trompetta – these are long, pale and somewhat curly, and have fewer seeds than regular courgettes)

40ml extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

a pinch of smoked paprika

5 walnuts, grated

For the parsnip purée

400g parsnips

500ml double cream

30g unsalted butter

50ml extra virgin olive oil

1 bay leaf

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the rocket pesto

100g wild rocket

2 bunches of fresh basil

1 clove of garlic, crushed

200g pine nuts

200ml extra virgin olive oil

250g Manchego cheese (or hard sheep’s cheese), cut into rough chunks

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make the purée, peel the parsnips and cut into small cubes. Put into a pan with the double cream, butter, olive oil, bay leaf, salt and pepper and simmer until they are very soft. Remove from the heat and blend together until nice and creamy, tasting for seasoning. Return to a low heat, cover and keep warm.

To make the pesto, blend together the rocket, basil, garlic, pine nuts and olive oil to make a smooth-ish green paste. Add the Manchego and pulse so that you have little chunks of cheese, then add salt and pepper and mix together.

Cook the courgettes last. Trim them, slice them in half lengthways, then halve them again widthways. If you have round courgettes, cut them into wedges of a similar size. Put the courgettes into a bowl and season with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill the courgettes on the barbecue or in a pan – if using the latter, carefully place each slice in the pan and turn them when they are coloured but still with a bite to them. When they are caramelized on both sides, remove to a tray or plate and drizzle with olive oil.

To serve, spoon the warm parsnip purée on to plates, top with the grilled courgettes, then dot over the pesto. Gently sprinkle over the smoked paprika, and finish with more olive oil and the grated walnuts.