The Ottolenghi Test Kitchen’s Slow-cooked Courgettes with Pangrattato
This warming courgette dish is full of vibrant colour and is topped with a crispy, nutty pangrattato for a savoury crunch.
From the book
Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Extra Good Things
Flexibility, flavour, and future-proofing your cooking
From simple midweek dinners to complex showstopper meals
Enjoy a little something extra to transform your next meal
Introduction
The oven does all the work with these slow-cooked courgettes, leaving you to get on with other things in the meantime. It’s a meal in its own right, and can easily just be spooned on to some pasta, or served with crusty bread to mop up all the olive-oil rich, tomato-y goodness.
Ingredients
| 1 | onion, peeled and finely chopped (180g) |
| 1kg | courgettes (about 4), trimmed and cut at an angle into roughly 5cm chunks |
| 6 | garlic cloves, peeled and crushed |
| 5g | oregano sprigs |
| 1½ tbsp | tomato paste |
| 150ml | olive oil |
| 400g | datterini or cherry tomatoes |
| 2½ tbsp | lemon juice |
| 10g | basil leaves |
| salt and black pepper | |
| For the pangrattato: | |
|---|---|
| 2 tbsp | olive oil |
| 35g | panko |
| 30g | pine nuts, very roughly broken with a pestle and mortar |
| 1 | garlic clove, peeled and crushed |
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan.
Put the onion, courgettes, garlic, oregano, tomato paste, oil, 1½ teaspoons of salt and a good grind of pepper into a large, ovenproof cast-iron saucepan for which you have a lid. Top with the lid, transfer to the oven and cook for 55 minutes, stirring once halfway through, or until everything has cooked down and softened but the courgettes still retain their shape. Remove from the oven and turn the heat up to 180°C fan.
Stir the tomatoes into the pan and return to the oven, lid off, for a further 25 minutes, or until the tomatoes have burst and the mixture has taken on a little bit of colour. Discard the oregano sprigs and leave the courgettes to cool for 30 minutes, or longer if you like (they’re best eaten slightly warm or at room temperature).
Meanwhile, make the pangrattato. Put the oil into a medium sauté pan over a medium-high heat and, once hot, add the panko, pine nuts, garlic, ⅛ teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper and turn the heat down to medium. Cook for 6–7 minutes, stirring often, until nicely browned and crispy. Transfer to a bowl.
To serve, stir the lemon juice and basil into the courgette mixture and transfer to a large serving dish with a lip, pouring over all the sauce. Sprinkle with a good handful of the pangrattato, serving the remainder in a bowl alongside.
Pangrattato:
– Store in a sealed container on your shelf for up to 3 days. If it loses its crispness, reheat in a large pan to crisp up again.
– Sprinkle over pasta or any type of creamy risotto.
