Parmesan-crusted courgette

Celia Brooks Brown kindly included my tweeted suggestion of what to do with courgettes, quickly, in her Urban Farmer column in The Times. Which, in 140 characters, is a bit of a challenge. My suggestion went like this: “coat medium courgette slices in balsamic & grated parm, then dry fry”.

Here's the verbose version.

Parmesan-crusted courgettes

2 or 3 small courgettes, sliced into coins about 5mm thick, or those fancy long oblong slices
Balsamic vinegar
A good pile of finely grated Parmesan cheese, or go for something similar but cheaper, like Gran Padano

1. Put your courgette slices into a bowl and just cover with the vinegar. Leave them to soak for a couple minutes.

2. Put the Parmesan on a small plate, and dredge each slice in it. I found it easier to put the slice on the Parmesan and then pile some cheese on top and press down with the tongs. 

3. Heat a non-stick frying pan on medium-high heat. The non-stick element is critical here, by the way. Fry your slices for a minute or so a side - keep an eye on these and don't wander off, they burn quickly. Some of them won't keep their cheesy coating so well, that's okay. Just scoop up the crusty, vinegary cheese bits and crumble over your courgette slices. This is why the non-stick pan is necessary, this could get very very messy if you have to scrape this off. Serve immediately.