Courgettes can be a delicious addition to any meal, but one error is often made when cooking this vegetable. When not cooked correctly, courgettes can end up being rather mushy, which is less than ideal when you’re sitting down to enjoy a nice meal.
Christina Miros, who shot to fame on Gordon Ramsay’s Next Level Chef, has revealed the golden rules for cooking courgettes. She starts by highlighting that the first important thing is to ensure that you’re cooking on high heat. Low heat will lead to the vegetable becoming rather jammy, while high heat will enable it to keep its toughness.
Starting on a high heat, there are numerous ways to cook your courgette, depending on the method.
If using a cast-iron pan or a wok, Christina recommends chopping the courgette into bite-sized pieces before seasoning with oil and salt.
However, when it comes to grilling them, Christina recommends cutting them vertically. She told Chowhound: “Cutting them in half allows for easier manoeuvring on the grill grates. The larger cuts will ensure they won’t slip through the grates.”
Cutting them in half also means that you are less likely to overcook the courgette, a rather common mistake when cooking thin slices of the vegetable.
Similarly, when it comes to cooking courgettes, Jenna Cox Scott, manager of Cox Farms Inc., suggests treating the vegetable like a piece of steak.
She told SimplyRecipes: “Don’t try to flip or turn the [courgette] too early. Almost like a piece of steak, it will release from the pan when it has a good sear and is ready to flip.”