Courgettes peeled into ribbons, tossed with toasted pine nuts, lemon, oil and herbs. Six servings, twenty five minutes, and only the nuts see heat.
Watch the pine nuts constantly
Low to medium heat, stirring, until golden brown.
Pine nuts are high in oil and they go from pale to burnt in well under a minute. The recipe says to keep stirring and watching because they brown very quickly, and that is not an exaggeration.
They are also expensive, which makes a burnt batch annoying as well as inedible.
Tip them onto a plate immediately. Left in the hot pan they keep cooking on residual heat and darken past where you wanted them.
Discard the seeded centre
Ribbons peeled until you reach the soft middle, which goes in the bin.
That core is watery and it has a different texture entirely, soft where the ribbons are crisp. Ribbons cut from it fall apart in the bowl and release liquid that makes the salad wet.
You lose maybe a quarter of each courgette. That is the cost of the technique.
A Y-shaped peeler, turning as you go
Run along the length, rotating the courgette between shavings.
A Y-shaped peeler gives wider ribbons than a straight swivel peeler and it is easier to keep flat against the vegetable.
Turning between passes is what keeps the courgette from developing a flat side that then wobbles on the board. Work around it evenly.
A mandoline gives more uniform ribbons if you have one, with the usual caution about the guard.
Dress it at the last minute
Everything tossed together to serve.
Raw courgette releases water as soon as salt and acid touch it. Dressed and left, the ribbons go limp and a pool collects in the bottom of the bowl.
Toss and serve. Ten minutes is fine; an hour is not.
Herbs go in last, even when making ahead
The recipe allows making it up to six hours ahead without the herbs, chilled, then tossing them through to serve.
That is a sensible split. Parsley and mint both darken and lose their aroma when they sit in acid, going from bright green to olive within an hour.
Note that the ribbons themselves will soften over six hours even undressed, so this is a compromise rather than a free lunch.
Lemon juice to taste
Half a tablespoon to a full one.
That range exists because courgettes vary in water content and sweetness, and because two tablespoons of oil against a full tablespoon of juice is a sharper dressing than many people want.
Start at half, toss, taste and add more. You cannot take it out.
Parsley and mint together
A small handful of each, roughly chopped.
Parsley is grassy and clean, mint is sweet and cooling. Together they lift what is otherwise a fairly neutral vegetable.
Roughly chopped rather than finely. Larger pieces stay identifiable in the salad; fine chopping turns them into flecks.
Chilli flakes are optional and useful
A large pinch.
There is nothing sharp in this salad besides the lemon, and a little heat gives the dressing somewhere to go. It is listed as optional and it is worth including.
Serving
Piled onto a plate rather than spread flat.
Ribbons look better with height and air between them. Pressed down they read as a heap of wet vegetable. Around 102 calories per serving. Crumbled goat’s cheese over the top is suggested and it suits, adding salt and creaminess to a salad that is otherwise very lean. Courgette or zucchini The same vegetable under two names, British and American respectively. Nothing changes.
Look for firm, glossy, medium-sized ones. Large courgettes have developed seeds and a watery core, which means more waste and fewer usable ribbons.
Substituting the nuts
Toasted almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts all work and cost considerably less than pine nuts. Chop them roughly after toasting.
Pumpkin seeds are the option if you need it nut free, toasted the same way and watched just as closely.
Ribboned Courgette Salad
Description
A crisp raw courgette ribbon salad with toasted pine nuts and fresh herbs.
Ingredients:
Instructions
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Put the pine nuts into a small frying pan over low-medium heat and toast until golden brown, stirring and watching constantly as they brown very quickly. Tip them onto a plate immediately, since leaving them in the pan will continue cooking them. Allow to cool.
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Trim both ends of each courgette. Put a courgette flat on a board and run a Y-shaped vegetable peeler along its length to create a ribbon. Repeat, turning the courgette between shavings, until you are left with just the soft seeded centre. Discard this. Repeat with the remaining courgettes and put all the ribbons into a large bowl.
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To serve, add the nuts, oil, lemon juice, chilli flakes if using, parsley, mint and some seasoning to the courgettes. Toss together, starting with half a tablespoon of lemon juice and adding more to taste.
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Pile onto a serving plate and serve immediately..
Note
Watch the pine nuts constantly, as they go from pale to burnt in under a minute, and tip them onto a plate immediately since they keep cooking in a hot pan. Discard the soft seeded centre of each courgette; ribbons cut from it fall apart and release liquid. Use a Y-shaped peeler and turn the courgette between passes so it does not develop a flat side. Dress at the last minute, since raw courgette releases water as soon as salt and acid touch it. If making ahead, hold the herbs back and add them at serving, as parsley and mint darken in acid. Start with half a tablespoon of lemon juice and add more to taste. Pile the salad rather than spreading it flat.