How To Make Claire Thomson’s Spiced Roasted Courgette With Lime, Avocado And Broken Tortilla

Salad, but not as you know it.

Posted on

4 April 2019

Claire Thomson’s Spiced Roasted Courgette

All Credits: PA

“Perhaps my favourite of the salads and vegetables in New Kitchen Basics, this recipe ramps up flavour and texture in robust combination,” says food writer Claire Thomson. “Courgettes served like so are more va-va-voom than you might ever have cooked or eaten them before.

“Serve this on its own as a light lunch, or in tandem with an assortment of barbecue dishes. I would be very happy eating this with a very cold glass of beer, maybe sand between my toes… mariachi band optional.”

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

4 courgettes, diced
Vegetable or olive oil
1–2tsp hot smoked paprika or chipotle chilli flakes
1tsp ground cumin
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
80–100g tortilla chips, broken up
2 avocados, flesh cut into bite-size pieces
100g feta cheese, crumbled
Small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
1–2 green chillies, finely sliced (optional; remove the seeds to reduce heat, if you like)
1 lime, cut into wedges, to serve
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C/425°F/Gas 7 and line two baking sheets with baking paper.

2. Put the courgette in a bowl with a good measure of oil, half the paprika or chipotle and half the cumin. Season with salt and pepper, and mix until well coated. Spread evenly in a single layer on one of the prepared baking sheets and roast for about 10 minutes. Distribute the garlic in among the courgette and continue cooking for a further five minutes, until the courgettes are golden in places and tender throughout.

3. Mix a good measure of oil in a small bowl with the remaining spices. Spread the broken tortillas on the second baking sheet, pour over the spiced oil and turn through to coat evenly. Bake in the oven for about five to eight minutes, until toasted. Remove from the oven.

4. Scatter half the toasted tortillas over a large serving dish. Top with the cooked courgette and the avocado, then distribute the feta, coriander, remaining tortillas, and the sliced chilli (if using). Serve with the wedges of lime to squeeze at the table.

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It's so easy to get stuck in a boring cooking rut, but cookery writer Claire Thomson, aka @5oclockapron wants to inspire us all to ditch the boring spag bol and enliven our cooking (and eating!) repertoires. Claire's latest book, New Kitchen Basics, takes our 10 favourite supermarket ingredients and reinvents them as modern classics. With sections on chicken, tomatoes, eggs, cheese, minced meat, pasta, potatoes, salad, lemon and chocolate, each chapter covers the basics about that ingredient, then offers recipes using each in ways that will brighten up mealtimes. Claire's cooking is simple yet imaginative, and her kitchen expertise and knowledge of flavour combinations mean that these dishes will become your new standby meals. Pre-order your copy via the link in our bio. Photography by @samuelflamuel Prop Styling by @forks_and_knives Illustrations by @andymosse Commissioned by @sarah10016 Designed by @nikki_l_ellis #newkitchenbasics #clairethomson #storecupboard #larder #artofthelarder #kitchenbasics #recipeideas #excitingfood #storecupboardbasics #dinnerinspo #inspirationalfood #cookery #foodieheaven #lovecooking #foodism #goodfood #dinnerideas #5oclockapron #theartofthelarder #letscook #beadventurous #cookbooks #quadrillebooks

A post shared by Quadrille (@quadrillebooks) on Feb 25, 2019 at 12:00am PST