In Season: Courgettes

Expertly grown, and picked at just the right time

Courgette seeds are planted in springtime and are then grown under cover in greenhouses or poly tunnels to protect the tender shoots from frost damage. Once mature and hardy, they’ll be planted out in early summer.

As they’re very thirsty, they should ideally be planted in a sunny spot with rich soil that gets lots of water. Like other gourds, courgettes spread out their vines and need quite a lot of space to grow (roughly one metre square).

Farmers must regularly check the plants for new growth, as smaller courgettes are much tastier - tender and nutty - and can get more watery if they grow too large. Indeed, if you leave them too long they‘ll turn into marrows. In fact, courgettes and marrows are the same species (both cucurbita pepo), but marrows are varieties that are bred for storability and size.

The courgette menu

Courgettes are not the strongest tasting vegetable in the patch, but that makes them very versatile. They pair especially well with Mediterranean flavours like garlic, herbs and lemon. When cooking, you have to be careful not to let them turn mushy.

The best way is either to use high heat for a short cooking time, like frying or grilling, or to chop them into larger chunks if you're adding them to a sauce like ratatouille or a pasta sauce. And don’t forget the edible yellow flowers – they’re excellent stuffed with ricotta and fried.

Thinking of adding them to pasta? Our courgette and preserved lemon fusilli lunghi uses zesty preserved lemons and slow cooking to create incredible depth of flavour. The gently spiced courgette frittata can be eaten at any time of day. We have a chilli courgette ribbon salad that takes just 10 minutes and is perfect for a summer's lunch. For tea time, try the courgette, orange & walnut layer cake.

Courgette facts you might not know

• Courgettes have only been around since the late 19th century, when they were developed in Italy.
• In the USA, they were initially called Italian squash or Italian vegetable marrows, before their Italian name was adopted.
• In Italian they are known as zucchina (singular) or zucchini (plural), meaning small gourd – the ‘ina/ini’ ending means small.
• In the UK, we adopted the French word courgette, also meaning small gourd.
• The first reference to the vegetable in a British cookbook is 1931.