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GRILLED COURGETTES AND QUAILS’ EGGS WITH MARJORAM BUTTER

If you grow your own courgettes, use a few different-coloured varieties for maximum visual effect. We use whatever we have growing, but particular favourites are green Passandra F1 and yellow Easy Pick Gold. (This dish is a great way to use up a glut, too!) The grilled courgettes are served with butter sauce flecked with marjoram, which adds a sweet spiciness. Add this right at the end, though, as these subtle flavours can be lost during cooking. The soft-boiled quails’ eggs from our birds add a little extravagant luxury here.

SERVES 4, AS A STARTER

Grilled courgettes

selection of mixed-size different-coloured courgettes, such as Partner, Passandra, Alena F1

2 tbsp sunflower oil

Courgette purée

75g unsalted butter

300g large green courgettes, thinly sliced

100ml double cream

Marjoram butter sauce

2 tbsp sunflower oil

140g white onion, finely diced

50ml white wine vinegar

150ml white wine

10g marjoram leaves

160ml double cream

300g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Quails’ eggs

50ml white wine vinegar

12 quails’ eggs

salt, for seasoning

To make the purée, melt the butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium–high heat, then add the courgettes and sweat them for 5–6 minutes until tender and soft. Add the cream and cook for about 2 minutes to reduce the liquid, until the cream is almost split. Transfer to a blender and blitz until smooth. Season with salt and leave to one side.

Preheat a barbecue or grill to high.

To make the marjoram butter sauce, warm a large saucepan over a medium heat, add the oil and sweat the onion, stirring regularly, for 5–7 minutes until translucent. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar and wine, add half the marjoram and cook for 3–4 minutes until reduced to a syrup. Pass the syrup through a fine sieve into a medium saucepan, set the pan over a medium heat and add the cream, stirring well. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer. Gradually add the butter pieces, whisking constantly and adding more when the previous piece has melted and is incorporated into the sauce. Remove from the heat and season with salt.

Halve the courgettes, cutting any larger bits into chunks, coat in the oil and season with a pinch of salt. Cook on the barbecue or grill until charred and tender.

To cook the quails’ eggs, pour 45ml of the white wine vinegar into a wide bowl and carefully crack in all of the eggs, slightly spaced apart. Allow the eggs to sit in the vinegar for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil and add the remaining vinegar. Turn down the heat and reduce to a simmer. Swiftly but carefully remove the eggs from the vinegar one at a time with a slotted spoon, transfer straight into the simmering water and cook all the eggs together for 1 minute 20 seconds. Remove and season with salt. They will look like little hard-boiled eggs because the vinegar sets the white around the yolk.

Spoon the courgette purée on to plates, then divide the grilled courgettes among the plates, distributing the shapes and sizes evenly. Finish the sauce with the remaining chopped marjoram and drizzle over. Carefully halve the eggs and add to each plate.