Christmas courgette baubles Green is the new black

TWENTY years ago, suggest to a grown man that he was getting a roasted courgette stuffed with rice and he would have looked at you as if you had gone mad. A child in school looking at anything green would screw their faces up and run a mile.

How things have changed. Once they discovered that courgettes grilled with olive oil on a barbeque were sweet and delicious, they sniffily tolerated them. Realising courgettes grated, cooked in butter and cream and poured over pasta with lashings of parmesan were even better than macaroni cheese, green on a plate became less of a turn-off.

So, with an increased awareness of our environment and health, attitudes have changed. With as many as 6 per cent of Scots declaring themselves as vegan, don’t be afraid to serve vegetables. Green is the new black

CHRISTMAS COURGETTE BAUBLES

Perfect for a Christmas starter, these round courgettes are ideal for roasting and stuffing.

Preheat oven 190C/Gas 5 4-6 round courgettes

Wash the courgettes, dry them and trim off the top.

Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh, leaving about 2cm round the sides. Keep the flesh.

Rub the courgettes with olive oil and season well with sea salt and black pepper

Lay on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 20 minutes or so.

Remove and set aside.

For the filling 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 onion or 2 shallots finely chopped 1 clove garlic finely chopped The flesh from the courgettes 250g rice, arborio or short grain rice 2 large tomatoes, deseeded and diced 1 tablespoon pitted olives 1 tablespoon rinsed salted capers 400ml hot vegetable stock or water

Zest and juice of an unwaxed lemon

2 tablespoons finely chopped mint and parsley.

Small bunch fresh basil Sea salt and black pepper Warm the oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and garlic, sautéing for 5 minutes or so until soft.

Raise the heat and add the flesh from the courgettes, cooking for a few minutes until they start to brown at the edges.

Add the rice and tomatoes and stir.

Add the pitted olives, capers and zest of the lemon and finally the stock.

Cook gently for 15-20 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed.

Mix in the chopped herbs and check seasoning.

Fill each of the roasted courgettes with the stuffing.

Drizzle with a little more olive oil and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden, sizzling and crispy. The rice will finish cooking in the oven.

Dress with the torn basil leaves.

Serve warm or cool with a big blob of Greek yoghurt.

Mary Contini is an author and broadcaster and director of Valvona & Crolla. Visit valvonacrolla.com. Easy Peasy: Real Cooking for Kids by Mary Contini and Pru Irvine is out now