3 courgettes, long but not fat
4 tbsp olive oil
2 shallots finely chopped
1 garlic clove finely chopped
100g ricotta
1 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
½ tbsp Bouillon powder
30g whole almonds, roasted for 8 minutes and chopped into thin slivers
2 tbsp fresh white breadcrumbs
1 tbsp fresh basil or ½ tbsp each fresh basil and chives
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Tomato sauce:
4-6 tbsp olive oil
2 finely chopped garlic cloves
1 small red onion finely chopped
500g tomatoes roughly chopped
8 black olives stoned and chopped
salt & freshly ground black pepper
basil to serve

METHOD

Cut the courgettes in half to make two tubes, hollow out the flesh and chop it roughly. Heat half the oil in a pan and fry the shallots and garlic.

Add the chopped courgette flesh. Soften for 7 minutes on a medium heat, stirring often.

Stir in the ricotta, Parmesan, bouillon powder, chopped almonds, breadcrumbs and herbs, and season with salt and pepper.

Season the courgette tubes inside and out with salt, pepper and oil. Then stand them on a board like soldiers and push the filling into them, using a teaspoon and your thumb.

Heat the remaining oil in a griddle pan. Fry the courgettes all the way round till the skin starts to brown, shrivel and visibly soften and bits of the cheese are slipping out into the pan forming crisp to nutty delectable golden nuggets.

Tomato sauce:
Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan. Add the garlic and onion and soften until translucent.

Add the tomatoes and fry for about 8 minutes. You can leave the skins on but you can blanch the tomatoes in boiling water first for a minute and remove them, chopping them and removing the seeds at the same time. Do catch all the juices though and add these to the tomatoes.

When the sauce is nearly ready, add the olives. Season to taste and liquidise.

Serve the courgettes upright on a dish and pour the tomato sauce all around. Scatter a few basil leaves over the top and serve extra Parmesan on the side if you like.

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