Zambolis apartments

Zambolis apartments
For your holidays in Chania

Friday 31 July 2009

Lumen accipe et imperti (Λάβετε φως και μοιράσετέ το)

Here's a very summery recipe to use up an over-productive zucchini crop. Zucchini pate is very simple to make and can be used in a variety of ways, as Ruth Pretty notes, whose recipe Michelle led me to.

zucchini paste zucchini paste
Although I enjoyed the zucchini pasta, I loved this pate spread on bread. I could survive on this throughout the summer.
zucchini paste

Lumen accipe et imperti ("receive the light and pass it on") was the school motto for WGC. Ruth, Michelle and I are all "old girls" of this state school in Wellington. All the schools in Wellington had nicknames, used mainly by pupils of other schools. Ours was "Wellington Grills". Most immigrant Greeks sent their children to state schools, but that's not where their grandchildren are being educated nowadays, a sign of upward mobility in the next generation of Wellington Greeks. Most are now attending private schools that their parents probably made fun of when they were young, places like St Farts and Snots Porridge. They have clearly moved up the ladder in Kiwi society, forming the middle classes of Kiwiland. This is not surprising; Greeks are a remarkably progressive race when they get out of their own country, taking up any opportunities given to them to make good, and instilling similar expectations in their children.


An old girl posing with her parents on Prizegiving Day before the end of the school year, November 1981.

Rachel also recommended the same pate recipe to me, spicing it up with onion and garlic, which is how I made it for a bit of added flavour.

You need:
a quantity of grated zucchini to suit your needs (courgettes and marrow may both be used)
a few tablespoons of olive oil (I used more than a few; zucchini absorbs oil very quickly)
a coarsely chopped onion
1-2 finely chopped cloves of garlic
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onion and garlic. Cook till the onion has softened. Add the grated zucchini (if the zucchini came with the flower still attached to it, you can also add that chopped in thin strips) and let it stew away until most of the water has evaporated and the mixture looks like a thick paste. Season with salt and pepper, and serve on grilled bruschetta, toast, hot pasta, or even as a dip (alongside tzatziki) with crunchy vegetables.

Michelle tells me that this paste freezes well. All I can say is I'll be glad when I see the end of this year's zucchini crop...

©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.

18 comments:

  1. Hi Maria, here's a variation on the theme: slice small/medium courgettes into various sized coins; heat a good glug of oil, add courgettes, chopped garlic (and a chilli, but you probably wouldn't get that by your family?!) cover with lid and cook until soft. It all needs to be quite hot so that it doesn't go watery but that means you have to keep an eye and stir so that it doesn't catch too much. When ready, take off the heat, smash up a bit, add more oil if needed, lemon juice and chopped mint, and season (all to taste) We live on it in the summer, on bread or on pasta (with crumbled feta on top). Yum.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Maria, love the addition of onion and garlic. You must have known I bought some lovely looks zucchs yesterday. Then Olive Oyl - lemon, mint and feta too. I like that you get a full on zucchini flavour and no watery-ness cooking them this way

    The school prize giving photo had me smiling - I'm somewhere there in the gym too! In 1981 I was co-winner of the Drama prize. Being a year behind me you missed the joy of wearing the senior "parachute" skirt. It was pleated all the way around so we had to clutch the sides as we walked down into town in the Wellington wind. Maria, you're so lucky the uniform changed.

    Snob's Porridge...and St Maggots - what memories!

    care and huggles, Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ha ha, Wellington Girls' College et al. Yes, Greeks have always been upwardly mobile in education. My nephews went to St Snots College. My youngest Greek goddess daughter bucked the trend and boldly went to Naenae! Zucchini is not my fav vege, either in texture or in flavour. Slimy and bland. Not bad for a cake, and I make a good kolokithopita. Otherwise, I'll pass it up in all forms.
    xxx Heather

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aaaah! Memories of high school. They were some of the best days of my life! And the zucchini pate looks lovely Maria! And easy too! Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think of Zucchini Pate as Zucchini Tonic! Definitely a great recipe in all its glorious variations.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Shame you can't send some over here! The prices in the supermarket are ridiculous!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a great zucchini recipe! I could eat zucchini everyday, you know. Lucky you, your garden must be overflowing again.

    ReplyDelete
  8. looks great - think I will try it. A friend just gave me some fresh zucchini from her "dacha". I made some zucchini bread - but after 2 loaves I'm about done with it and ready for something different!! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Maria,
    Wonderful recipe. We have lots of zucchine and marrows here on Saaremaa. One question: Can this pate be frozen?

    ReplyDelete
  10. I don't want to see another b....y courgette for a long time...!

    ReplyDelete
  11. This sounds like a very tasty use for zucchini! I love this very productive vegetable and this sounds delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Silly me - it wasn't St Maggots - it was Queen Maggots!

    Tried the addition of onion and garlic last night = a lovely improvement.

    Now, can you remember what we called St Mary's - it has escaped my memory. Brain-fade!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Maria, a thousand thanks from the southern slopes of the Cretan kolokythakia mountain. This is wonderful. Can I venture to suggest that the lemon juice should be included in the basic recipe? Have already tried two variations – a handful of capers in one batch, a spoonful of green olive paste in another. I’m already looking forward to tomorrow’s courgette delivery.

    ReplyDelete
  14. great additions to the basic recipe - amazing what we can do with all that excess kolokithakia crop!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ok, ok, I've made it and it was wolfed down by husband, it is rather yummy, thank you. I shall try the other vatieties now..

    ReplyDelete
  16. Righto, going to give it a shot during our Aussie summer with the zucchinis from my parents garden. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great way to use the zucchinis! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete