Heaven in a courgette ball

 On my twenty seventh birthday I made very good friends with a new, most amazing food. Had it of not been for the owner of the taverna who insisted I must eat them, as it was my birthday after all, then I may never have discovered this gastronomic delight. I shudder at the thought. I should have known when I sat down to eat at a restaurant boasting this – the Gastronomic Anchor of the Gods – that I was onto a winner.

The delight I discovered was the courgette ball. Granted the name is unlikely to leave you quaking with anticipation but really, these were amazing. They are basically fritters of grated courgette mixed with herbs, some egg and often some feta cheese. These are then formed into balls, dusted with flour and fried. They are a soft, slightly spicy mouth sensation and I am officially addicted. The only problem with this is that I live in England and the courgette balls living in Agios Nikolos in the Peleponnese. Fail.

Last time I was in Greece I was launched into a one woman mission to make the perfect fluffy Moussaka topping (two eggs whipped into a creamy bechamel sauce should you be interested!) and I fear my latest trip is going to set me off on a similar obsession. What I did learn from my courgette ball sampling is that variety is the order of the day, that and lots of garlic. Some people added mint, some added what seemed like grated butternut squash, others a sprinkling of feta. As you may have gathered I did A LOT of courgette ball tasting! Now I am back home I am going to try out a basic recipe and then get creative until I have the perfect courgette balls at which point I will, of course, share my findings – you're gonna love me! ;)

The mighty courgette

As well as eating lots of food I also love growing it. This season has been tricky due to what I call 'The Great Slug Infestation of 2011'. It has been a one woman crusade against what seems to be an army of slugs. I have won the battle of the lettuces but sadly not of the French beans who died valiantly in the early season after being mercilessly munched in the course of one evening.

What has been doing well, and is just started to produce, is my courgette plants. These are really so easy to grow (everything in my garden is because I am a very lazy gardener and just like to leave plants to do their thing!). I always get mine as baby plants because you only need three or four plants to keep you in abundant courgettes all summer. When courgette plants flower they produce these gorgeous orange flowers that remind me of Asiatic lilies which incidentally were the flowers I carried on my wedding day three years ago today!

When you do get a crop of courgettes from your garden they are so easy to use. They are much less watery than the kind you get in the supermarket and have a much stronger flavour. This makes them great for things like courgette fritters where the high water content is a problem and needs to be drained off when using shop bought varieties. I cook my home grown courgettes very simply by frying up some garlic and chilli in a saucepan, adding a tin of tomatoes and letting it simmer away while I fry 1cm cubes of the courgettes in a frying pan until lightly golden brown. I then mix the two together and serve with pasta and some parmesan. Delicious!

One last courgette tip, cut your courgettes off your plants when they are no more than 5 inches long. They are more flavoursome and it is healthier for the plant as if you leave them to grow to shop size the productivity of the plant will be significantly reduced and you may end up with a giant marrow. Fun for you but very sapping for the poor plant!

Happy courgette growing!