Two of my favourite courgette quiches

We got our first allotment when we were living in Chesterfield, in England. At the time we really didn't know anything about gardening AT ALL! We made up things as we went along, learning from successes and failures. We did loads of silly things which we laugh about now. One of our biggest (funny-ish) mistakes was to underestimate how many courgettes a courgette plant can produce over the course of a summer.

We planted 8 plants, and being a reasonnably warm summer, our courgettes went in total overdrive. From early July until late September, we were harvesting more than 10 courgettes a week! That is A LOT of courgettes. We had them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I started collecting all the recipes I could find, my mum sent them in, my grandmothers revealed their secrets. But that wasn't enough: we got sick of them and so did our friends!

These days we are a lot more sensible with our courgettes and get to appreciate them more!

Courgette plants - yellow and green

(before my weeding craze!)

One way to use courgettes that people don't necessarily think about is to use them in quiches. These are two of my favourite courgette quiche recipes.

Courgette, Feta and Mint Quiche


Ingredients (serves 6 to 8):

250g shortcrust pastry

2 medium size courgettes

125g of feta cheese

1 handful of mint, finely chopped

4 eggs

200ml of semi skimmed or full fat milk

200ml of single cream or liquid "crème fraîche"

salt and pepper




Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F/GM6

2. Line the pastry in the tart mold (butter the mold or use greaseproof paper)

3. Wash and grate the courgettes finely, place in a colander and press to extract as much water/courgette juice as possible.

4. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and incorporate the milk and cream. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Add the grated courgettes, the crumbled feta cheese and the finely chopped mint to the egg mixture. Pour into the mold.

6. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until set.

7. Serve hot or warm with a side salad.




Courgette Quiche with Shiitake Mushrooms and Goat Cheese

Ingredients (serves 6 to 8):

250g shortcrust pastry

2 small courgettes

250g shiitake mushrooms

150g soft goat cheese

1 bunch of flat leaf parsley

4 eggs

200ml full fat milk

250ml of single cream

10g of butter or greaseproof paper for the mold

1 tbsp of vegetal oil

2 pinches of cinnamon

nutmeg (to taste), salt and pepper



Method:

1. Preheat oven at 200C/400F/GM6

2. Line the pastry in the tart mold (butter the mold or use greaseproof paper)

3. Wash and dry the shiitake mushrooms and fry them for 2 minutes in 1tbsp of vegetable oil.

4. Wash and grate the courgettes finely, place in a colander and press to extract as much water/courgette juice as possible.

5. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and incorporate the milk and cream. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

6. Add the grated courgettes, the crumbled goat cheese, the mushrooms and the finely chopped parsley to the egg mixture. Pour into the mold.

7. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until set.

8. Serve hot or warm with a side salad seasoned with walnut or hazelnut dressing.


Both are also great for summer barbecues or picnics served cold!