Courgettes with Yoghurt and Crispy Herbs
by Ollie Templeton
This super simple recipe is a favourite in the restaurant; putting courgettes centre stage with just a handful of other lovely ingredients. If you can get your hands on a few different colours and varieties of courgette, even better…
SERVES
4, as a side dish
INGREDIENTS
3 courgettes
30ml extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon
20g parsley
20g chives
1 litre of neutral oil, like sunflower oil
100g thick yoghurt
METHOD
Take two of the courgettes and grill them, ideally on a charcoal BBQ, but the grill option on your oven will do as well. Take care to really burn your courgettes, they want to be blackened and properly cooked through.
Leave the courgettes to cool slightly before juicing them and then mixing their juice with the olive oil and the juice of half the lemon. Season to taste. If you don’t have a juicer, blend them with the olive oil and the juice of half the lemon. Season to taste.
Pick the parsley leaves and chop the chives into 3cm pieces.
Pour the neutral oil into a pan and heat to around 180°C. Carefully drop the herbs into the oil and fry for 10 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to lift the herbs out and place them on a tea towel or cloth to absorb the excess oil. They should be nice and crunchy.
Thinly slice the remaining courgette, season with salt and pepper and squeeze over the other half of the lemon juice.
To serve, pour the courgette juice into a serving bowl and spoon in the yoghurt. Cover the yoghurt in the sliced raw courgette and finish with the crispy herbs. Serve immediately.