Courgette/Zucchini Carpaccio

I’m over-run with courgettes – kind friends and relatives keep leaving them on the doorstep, so I’m having to be inventive as we’ve made them into ratatouille, courgette soup, and courgette ribbon pasta. All delicious, but these yellow ones deserved special treatment. I saw a photo of a similar dish to this in a gorgeous French food magazine. Carpaccio plates can look so simple and stunning but you often miss out as a vegetarian. Well, no more! These delicately dressed, blanched courgettes make an elegant, light starter and are going to leave a memorable impression on any who eat them.

The other vegetable that kind people leave me with is runner beans….. does anyone like runner beans? If anyone can give me a way to use them up I’d be most grateful. I certainly won’t be repeating my runner bean chutney disaster from the other year!

Courgette Carpaccio (dairy-free, egg-free, peanut-free, nut-free, sesame-free, gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan)

serves 2, multiple the recipe for more

• 1 courgette
• a small handful of pine nuts or sunflower seeds
• 2 sundired tomatoes, cut into small slices
• a handful of pitted balck olives
• olive oil (i had basil oil which worked wonderfully)
• balsamic vinegar
• parsley, basil or rocket leaves
• salt and pepper

– Boil the courgettes whole for 5 minutes. Then drain and refresh in iced water

– Slice into long, thin strips

– Place onto a plate

– Drizzle with a little oil

– Arrange the tomatoes, olives, pine nuts and parsley/basil on top

– Drizzle with a little more oil and a few drops of balsamic

– Season and serve.