Fried Courgette Flowers | Courgette Flowers with Mozzarella | Fried baby courgettes

Posted on by gloriouslygoodfood

Fried Courgette Flowers with Mozzarella filling

 (and fried baby courgettes if you have them)

Courgette flowers are pretty difficult to get hold of, but if you can (or if you grow your own courgettes), they are delicious. 

Fried Courgette Flowers

In Rome, you can find white pizza (no tomato) topped with courgette flowers and mozzarella.  They are a delicacy!

One of my favourite treats in Rome and southern Italy is fried courgette flowers.  My auntie makes these with an anchovy fillet in the middle as well, and I love them!  She makes them in big batches when she can get hold of the courgette flowers, then freezes them.

My recipe is a very quick & simple one without anchovy fillets.

Ingredients:

  • Courgette flowers 
  • Mozzarella
  • Plain white flour
  • Egg
  • Milk
  • Salt
  • Light olive oil or vegetable oil

Prepare a simple and fairly thick batter by placing flour in a bowl, making a well in the centre & adding beaten egg into the well.  Start stirring with a fork or whisk, from the centre & moving outwards, gradually adding more flour into the egg.  As the mixture starts thickening and before you’ve added all the flour, start gradually adding milk until you have a smooth thick-ish batter.  Season with salt.

Wash the courgette flowers and trim off any stalks or courgettes.  Place a chunk of mozzarella inside each flower, dip into the batter and ensure the flower is completely coated, then deep-fry in vegetable oil or light olive oil (not extra virgin…it’s a waste for frying and too strong in flavour).

They will only take about 30-60 seconds to fry, depending on the temperature of your oil.  Take them out of the oil and drain on a plate with some kitchen roll on it.

Serve sizzling hot!

Fried Courgette Flowers

If you happen to have some baby courgettes, you can also dip these in the batter and fry them, but they will take a little longer to cook inside.

Enjoy this very simple and very quick dish.  To make about 8 fried courgette flowers will only take you approximately 10 mins from start to finish!

Gloriously Good!

For more recipes, tips & general foodie stuff, go to www.gloriouslygoodfood.com
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Courgettes | Zucchini | Quick Lunch Ideas

Posted on by gloriouslygoodfood
Pan-fried Courgettes (Zucchini if you’re in the USA) – 
a quick and healthy Low-Cal lunch or a tasty side-dish!
Pan-fried Courgettes | Pan-fried Zucchini

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 10 mins
Serves: 4 as a side-dish or 1-2 as a healthy low-cal lunch!
Approx. Calories per serving: 55  

Ingredients

  • 3-4 large courgettes / zucchini (approx. 750-800g in total)
  • 1/2 tsp olive oil
  • salt, garlic powder (or dried chopped garlic), chilli flakes – to taste

Method

Tip: The key to this quick & delicious courgette / zucchini lunch or side-dish is to use a good non-stick frying pan and keep the heat on high!  That way, the courgettes / zucchini don’t stick (despite use of very little oil) and you get that beautiful caramelised taste, texture & look.  After all, who wants anaemic-looking courgettes/zucchini on their plate??

Wash, then top & tail the courgettes/zucchini

Cut them in half, lengthways, then cut each half in half lengthways again (so you end up having quartered them lengthways)

Then cut each length into approx. 1-1.5cm chunks – don’t worry about this looking too precise or pretty.  I put 4 lengths together and cut them all at once, quite quickly & roughly. This is a QUICK recipe!

Heat the oil in the frying pan and when it’s really hot & sizzling, add the courgettes / zucchini.

Season to taste with salt, garlic powder (or dried chopped garlic) and chilli flakes.

Stir occasionally to ensure they caramelise evenly, keeping the heat on high at all times.

After approx. 10 mins, they’re ready to serve (or longer if you prefer them softer).

That’s all there is to it! 🙂

Gloriously Good Food!

Recipe Extension Tip:

Why not beat some eggs and pour them over the courgettes / zucchini once they’ve browned off nicely, to turn this dish into a tasty omelette?

For more recipes, tips & general foodie stuff, go to www.gloriouslygoodfood.com

Quick Tuna Salad | Low-Cal Tuna lunch | Tuna & Rocket Salad | Quick Lunch Ideas

Posted on by gloriouslygoodfood
Gloriously Simple Tuna Salad

Here’s one of my regular quick, filling & healthy lunches.

I’ll give you today’s quantities & ingredients, but it really is down to whatever you happen to have available on any given day.  The beauty of that is that you don’t get bored of it if you keep changing some of the ingredients.

Today’s makes enough for 2 generous portions or 1 super-greedy portion (i.e. for me, it’s one portion!).

Assuming 2 portions, it comes in at under 180kcals per portion!

Although it’s not strictly-speaking low-fat, it is low-cal and full of GOOD fat in the form of extra virgin olive oil. Remember to use a really good quality extra virgin olive oil here, as you’re not using a lot of it, so it’s essential to get the best & strongest taste.

For 2 portions, I’ve used: 
  • 40g rocket
  • 80g cucumber, diced
  • 120g (1-2, depending on size) tomatoes, diced
  • 1 large spring onion (the large salad onions…approx 50g chopped)
  • 2tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 can John West No Drain Tuna in a little olive oil (you can use different brands of course, and it doesn’t have to be in olive oil if you prefer it in brine…I just like using this one as it’s a bit tastier and less dry, without having tons of calories)
  • salt & pepper (to taste)
Method

Just throw all the ingredients into a large bowl, mix well and serve!

Gloriously Good, Gloriously Simple!

For more recipes, tips & general foodie stuff, go to www.gloriouslygoodfood.com