COURGETTES IN BEEF BROTH & OLIVE OIL

This recipe was a practice in self restraint.

When I’m cooking, I am always forcefully guiding my own hand to not add flavours when they don’t belong because my natural inquisitive instinct always thinks a recipe needs to be ‘mooore’. This one doesn’t. It’s perfect.

I long for simplicity in cooking. Not just simple to follow recipes, but simple ingredients that deliver more than they promise. This bowl of perfectly rich (but not too bold) broth, infused with punchy, fruity olive oil and carrying morsels of garlic stained courgette is quite literally the best thing I have eaten in a while. No bells. No whistles. No boasts.

It’s rare for me to encourage people to spend money superfluously in my recipes, but I must say that with this one, it would be in your benefit to not skimp on two ingredients, and that’s the beef stock and the olive oil. I’m not saying to race to the ends of the world to get the best, I’m just saying that the better quality the ingredient – which doesn’t always necessarily mean the most expensive – will make for a much richer flavour experience.

I used a beef stock cube here dissolved in boiled water from the kettle, inexpensive but not necessarily the own brand. If you want to keep this vegetarian, you could opt for vegetable stock however it will be a much lighter broth – in both colour and flavour. For olive oil, mine wasn’t an extravagantly expensive, but it was a light green, fruity Greek extra-virgin olive oil. I very rarely call for extra-virgin olive oil in my recipes because by the time you’ve cooked with it, all the good flavour is gone, however as the impact of the oil is truly appreciated with a final drizzle here, I must say the extra punch of extra-virgin was welcome.

And despite my call for restraint and simplicity earlier, I must say I like to be heavy handed with the olive oil at the end. I’d only recommend this if you truly like the taste of your chosen olive oil, but I also love that lip-smacking finish of this soup, where, like a natural lipgloss, you can still feel the silky film of fat on your lips hours later.

Serves 2

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (+ extra for drizzling)

1 large courgette

2 cloves garlic

1 litre hot good-quality beef stock

A handful of spring greens (leaves torn from the stems)

A handful of fresh parsley (chopped very finely)

1. Warm the olive oil on a medium heat in a large pot with high sides and meanwhile, chop the courgette into small cubes, or as close to cubes as you can. Just little chunks is all we’re looking for.
2. Add the courgette to the pot with a little salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes. While the courgette fries, chop the garlic cloves as small as you can with a knife. I don’t grate the garlic here as I would normally do, as I don’t want the garlic to burn.
3. Add the garlic to the pot and continue cooking the courgettes and garlic together for a further 3 – 4 minutes.
4. Pour the beef stock into the pan, bring the pan to a bubble and then drop to a simmer for 15 – 20 minutes and then taste for seasoning.
5. Add the spring greens and the fresh parsley (but save a little back for sprinkling on top and cook for a further 3 – 4 minutes or so, just to wilt the leaves.
6. Ladle the pan into bowls, drizzle with a little more olive oil and finish with any leftover chopped parsley to serve.