The courgettes are glutting, and I’ve been trying out some new recipes. This is from The Complete South African Book of Food and Cookery, with some amendments. Very popular in our house.
3 large courgettes, thickly sliced
2 tbs olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
500g minced lamb
1 tsp flour
1/2 tsp dried oregano
200ml vegetable stock (or whatever you have available)
freshly ground black pepper
brown sugar
red wine vinegar
3 large tomatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
2 tbs grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbs soft breadcrumbs
Sauce:
2 tbs butter
2tbs flour
300ml milk
salt & freshly ground black pepper
100g feta cheese, crumbled
2 egg yolks, beaten
Put courgette slices into a colander and sprinkle liberally with salt. Leave 30 minutes to drain, then rinse and dry slices on recycled paper towels. Heat oil in a frying pan and saute courgettes until golden on both sides. Remove courgettes with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add onion and garlic to the pan and cook gently until soft. Turn up heat, add mince and cook until it changes colour, stirring and breaking up lumps with a fork. Sprinkle with flour and oregano and stir in, then add stock and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook gently for a few minutes, stirring once or twice. Taste and add a touch of brown sugar and vinegar as needed.
Make the sauce: melt butter in a saucepan, add flour and cook, stirring, on gentle heat for 1 minute. Remove from heat, cool a little, add warm milk, stirring until smoothly blended. Return to heat and stir until boiling. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in feta cheese, remove from heat and whisk in egg yolks. Stir 2 tbs of sauce into meat mixture.
Turn meat mixture into a greased, wide but fairly deep ovenproof dish. Arrange tomatoes in a layer on top, then courgette slices on tomatoes. Pour cheese sauce over courgette and sprinkle with Parmesan and breadcrumbs. Bake in a preheated moderately hot oven (190′C/Gas 5) for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Serves 6.
