Courgettes — season, tips, and recipes in New Zealand
Courgettes is a vegetables available in New Zealand during October, November, December, January, February, March, peaking in December, January. This page is a practical guide for home cooks: when to buy courgettes, how to pick a good one, how to store it, what it goes well with, three original recipes, and detailed nutrition information.
Also called zucchini. Every NZ gardener knows the experience of leaving one too long and finding a baseball-bat-sized marrow.
How to pick a good one
Smaller is better. Large = watery and seedy. Firm with glossy unblemished skin.
How to store it
Fridge vegetable drawer, up to a week. Don't wash until using.
Goes well with
lemon: Courgette is mild and slightly watery. Lemon acid makes it taste more of itself by providing contrast. Courgette without acid tends to taste of very little.
parmesan: Parmesan's intense savouriness fills the flavour gap that courgette's mildness creates. The combination is used across Italian cooking in pasta, fritters, and risotto.
mint: Mint's coolness and courgette's mild warmth sit well together. A Mediterranean combination used in fritters and salads where mint is almost as important as the courgette.
garlic: Garlic provides the flavour structure that courgette lacks. Most good courgette dishes have garlic in them for this reason.
basil: Basil and courgette share a summer season and similar aromatic profiles. Used together in pasta and salads across Italy.
Recipes
Courgette Fritters
Golden, crispy, fast.
Ingredients: 2 courgettes (grated), 2 eggs, 3 tbsp flour, 50g feta, handful mint, oil for frying
Method: Squeeze grated courgette dry in a tea towel. Mix with eggs, flour, crumbled feta, torn mint. Fry spoonfuls in oil, 2 min each side.
Courgette & Lemon Pasta
Summer dinner. 15 minutes.
Ingredients: 300g pasta, 2 courgettes, 1 lemon (zest and juice), 2 cloves garlic, parmesan, olive oil
Method: Grate courgettes. Cook pasta. In a pan, gently fry garlic in oil. Add courgettes, cook 3 min. Toss with drained pasta, lemon zest, juice, parmesan.
Raw Courgette Salad
Shaved, fresh, surprising.
Ingredients: 2 courgettes, 1 lemon, 2 tbsp olive oil, shaved parmesan, pine nuts, mint, salt
Method: Shave courgettes into ribbons with a peeler. Dress with lemon, oil, salt. Top with parmesan, pine nuts, torn mint.
Nutrition
One medium courgette provides 35% of your daily vitamin C, 10% of your potassium, and 10% of your manganese. Very low calorie at only 33 calories per courgette. The skin contains the most nutrients, so don't peel. Contains lutein and zeaxanthin for eye health. One of the most underrated nutrient-per-calorie vegetables.