Grilled courgettes with warm yoghurt and saffron butter

This recipe is inspired by kousa b’laban, a Levantine dish of stuffed
baby marrow cooked in yoghurt. In this simplified version the yoghurt
sauce and grilled courgettes are cooked separately, then served with
a quick saffron butter to spoon on top.

There’s a bit of an art to cooking yoghurt without having it curdle;
stabilisers such as cornflour and egg yolk tend to do the trick, as does
cooking the yoghurt on a moderate heat, stirring continuously and
gently warming through without boiling. The result: a silky-smooth
and tangy sauce, great for these courgettes but also with other grilled
veggies, fatty meats or even as a sauce to pasta.

Serves 2-4

• 30g unsalted butter
• ¼ tsp saffron threads, roughly crushed
• 4 small, pale green or regular courgettes, tops trimmed slightly and courgettes halved lengthways (600g)
• 2½ tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 300g Greek-style yoghurt
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• ½ tsp dried mint
• ¾ tsp coriander seeds, toasted and roughly crushed with a pestle and mortar
• 1½ tbsp picked mint leaves
• ½ lemon
• salt and black pepper

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to a high grill setting.
   
2. Put the butter and saffron into a small saucepan on a medium heat. When the butter has melted, set aside to infuse.
   
3. Place the courgettes on a parchment-lined baking tray and toss with 2 tablespoons of oil, ⅓ teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. Arrange them cut side up and grill for 15–20 minutes, until nicely charred and softened.
   
4. Towards the last 10 minutes of grilling time, make the sauce.
   In a large bowl, whisk together the cornflour and 3 tablespoons of water until smooth, then add the yoghurt, garlic, dried mint, the remaining ½ tablespoon of oil and ½ teaspoon of salt. Whisk to combine, then transfer to a large, non-stick sauté pan on a medium heat. Cook, stirring continuously, for about 10 minutes, or until thickened slightly and warmed through. Do not let the sauce boil, or it will split.
   
5. Transfer the warm yoghurt sauce to a plate with a lip and top with the courgettes, grilled side up. Spoon over the saffron butter, then sprinkle with the coriander seeds and mint leaves. Squeeze over the lemon half and serve right away.

This recipe is extracted from Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love by Noor Murad and Yotam Ottolenghi (Ebury Press, £25)