Courgette And Mint Dip

Hi folks!! As promised, the recipe I spoke about in yesterday’s post. It’s very simple and quick to make but the flavours are really fresh, perfect for this time of year.

It’s vegan, gluten, grain and nut free and requires just 7 ingredients. It’s based around the Middle Eastern dip Mutabbal which uses aubergines. Our aubergines won’t be ready to pick for at least another month so I improvise and use what we have at the time. I’m often adapting recipes to what I have on hand. Sometimes it works and others it’s a bit of a flop. But hey, you’ve got to try these things!

The mint I use for this dip is spearmint (hierbabuena), the one you use in mojitos. If you use peppermint (menta piperita) it would end up tasting like a Polo! I only use peppermint for infusions, the menthol content is much higher and personally, I don’t like it in cooking. You can also replace the tahini with a different nut or seed butter, I often use roast almond nut butter as we grow our own almonds but feel free to experiment.

For this recipe I use the pale green courgettes, their skins tend to be softer and I don’t need to peel them beforehand. Sometimes the skin on the dark green ones can get a bit tough when you roast them and I would preferably peel them if I’m using them for a dip.

Cut the courgettes into quarters lengthways, then slice diagonally accross 4 or 5 times to help them cook more quickly. Sprinkle on some salt and drizzle with olive oil. This just helps to add to the flavour. Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes, depending on the size of your courgettes, until tender.

Allow to cool a bit then chop them up and place in a colander set over a bowl to get some of their water content out. The more you can get out, the thicker the dip will be. Once they’re in the colander I squash them with a spoon to get as much liquid out as I can.

When you can’t squeeze anymore of their juices out without breaking the spoon or colander, transfer to a food processor along with the garlic (ajo), lemon juice (zumo de limón), tahini, mint, salt (sal) and olive oil (aceite de oliva) and process until you’re happy with the consistency. If you’ve peeled the courgettes it will be smoother than if you have left them unpeeled.

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I normally process for 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally to make sure everything is incorporated into the dip. And that’s more or less it. Store in the fridge until you’re ready to use. A drizzle of olive oil works well too.

Serve with pitta bread, chapatis, rice cakes, bread sticks, chopped veggies, whatever takes your fancy. It keeps for about 4 days in the fridge but it never lasts that long in our house!

Thanks for stopping by. If you have any suggestions or questions please feel free to get in touch. See you soon. Love Georgie and Pep xxx

Courgette And Mint Dip

A Baba Ganoush style summery dip which substitutes the aubergines for courgettes

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

• 3 Courgettes, peeled if you prefer
• 2 tbsp Tahini or other nut/seed butter
• 1/2 Lemon (just the juice)
• 4 Sprigs of mint, approximately 30 leaves
• 1 Garlic clove
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• Salt to taste

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade.
• Cut courgettes into quarters lengthways. Slice 4 or 5 times diagonally
• Place on a baking tray, sprinkle with salt, drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes until tender
• Allow to cool then place in a colander set over a bowl. Squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can. Transfer to food processor along with all other ingredients. Process for 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides every so often until you reach the consistency you like.
• Store in the fridge in an airtight container until you wish to serve. Drizzle with olive oil
• Keeps for 3-4 days in the fridge