This is a bit of a ready steady cook number, born out of an excess of courgettes. I (loosely) had in mind a Nigel Slater recipe that I often used to make for friends: chicken with plenty of garlic, herbs and wine, from his book, Appetite, which I’d serve with his 2009 recipe for green olive focaccia and a green salad. I rarely eat chicken nowadays, but I miss the deep, savoury, caramelised garlicky flavour and the juiciness of that dish, so I very much enjoyed reincarnating that in today’s recipe.
Caramelised garlic, courgette and butter beans
They’re a fair bit more expensive than many other brands, but, if you can stretch to them, the Bold Bean Co’s queen butter beans are soft, heavenly and will take this dish to another level entirely.
Prep 10 min
Cook 35 min
Serves 4 as a light dinner
2 medium courgettes (500g)
6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
¼ tsp fine sea salt
6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
150ml white wine
2 tbsp white miso
800g (2 x 400g tins) tinned butter beans, undrained
1 lemon, zested and juiced to get 1 tbsp
15g parsley, finely chopped
15g mint, leaves picked and finely chopped
1 baguette, to serve
Top the courgettes, cut them in half lengthways, then cut each half into irregular, bite-sized pieces.
Put two tablespoons of oil in a wide frying pan on a medium-high heat and, when it’s very hot, add the courgettes (in batches, if need be), and fry, turning every three minutes or so, until golden and browned all over – this will take about eight minutes in all. Sprinkle over the salt, stir and tip out on to a lipped plate.
Put the remaining four tablespoons of oil in the same frying pan, set it over a medium heat and, once it’s hot, stir-fry the garlic for a few minutes, until it’s sticky and golden.
Add the wine, then stir in the miso until the mix is lump-free. Leave the mixture to bubble for a couple of minutes, until it’s frothy, then add one of the tins of beans and its water. Spoon the beans from the other tin into the pan, leaving their water behind in the tin. Leave the beans to bubble for 10 minutes – add a little of the reserved bean juice to loosen, if need be – then stir in the fried courgettes and the lemon juice and zest.
Sprinkle the chopped herbs over the top and serve at once with a baguette.
