Courgette Asparagus Gratin with Ricotta & Pesto

Courgette Asparagus Gratin with Ricotta & Pesto

As the season is just beginning for courgettes, I thought it was worth showing you a few more ways to use this summer veg for dinner. Obviously a gratin was the natural recipe to start with. I’m sure by now you have noticed that I love adding a creamy cheese to add to the format. You can use shop bought pesto to make this faster but just make sure that it’s got a good boost of flavour going on.

This would make an excellent dinner party recipe with some extra salad.

NB: an olive oil well is when you make a little well in the pesto + fill it with olive oil!

Serves 4 as main

Ingredients:

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp dried oregano
170g sun-dried tomato paste
3 medium courgettes, thinly sliced with a mandolin
2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
100g small asparagus, sliced in half lengthways
4 large tbsp ricotta cheese

Pesto (you will have about 150g leftover):
30g basil
40g walnuts
60g parmesan
40g extra virgin olive oil
25ml water
zest of 1 lemon + juice of 1/2
1/2 garlic clove, grated
pinch sugar
salt + pepper

Preheat oven to 190C degrees.

Grab your 9inch baking tray and spread the tomato paste out evenly in the tray. In a bowl, add courgette slices and drizzle over 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp dried oregano . Season with salt and pepper generously. Start arranging the slices in rows and dot the tomato slices between them. Then lastly, tuck in the asparagus with the heads poking upwards. Cover with tin foil and bake for 25mins. Remove foil and bake for another 20mins or until golden.

When that cooks, place all the pesto ingredients into a blender, mix until smooth. Taste to check the seasoning.

In a small bowl, add the ricotta with 1 tbsp olive oil. Whip together lightly with a spoon.

When gratin is ready, spoon over the ricotta making a well inside each spoonful, fill with a spoon of pesto. Make a well in the pesto + carefully pour in a little olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve straight away!