Grilled Courgettes

Grilling is always a favourite way to cook with us because it caramelises the sugars in the vegetables and brings out their natural sweetness. And they look cool with the black grill lines on them. If you are using these courgettes in a sandwich, salt and pepper them afterwards, not before. If you’d like to dress them up, just chop some fresh mint and garlic, and sprinkle over the courgettes. Courgettes and basil are also a perfect marriage, call me old-fashioned, so pesto goes perfectly.

Ingredients

2 courgettes (zucchini), cut in 1 cm (½ inch) discs olive oil

salt and black pepper

Optional

2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves

1 small garlic clove

Method

Heat the chargrill pan or plate until very hot. It’s better to use a chargrill pan for these courgettes because you want the black lines on the slices, and it needs to be very hot to make sure the courgettes don’t turn mushy. Arrange the courgette discs on the chargrill pan. Grill, without moving them around. Lightly season with salt and pepper before serving. If you would like to, finely chop the mint and garlic together, and scatter over the courgettes.