Nigel's Marvellous Marrows

I am not a fan of marrows. They are tasteless and watery. But then I watched Nigel Slater's episode of Simple Suppers, "Too Good To Waste" in which he made stuffed marrows that looked so tasty that I was persuaded to give them another go.... and I'm glad I did!

This is a very simple and easy to prepare recipe that doesn't use many ingredients (marrow, cherry tomatoes, fresh herbs, chilli, feta cheese and olive oil) but the end result is colourful, delicious and satisfying. The marrow really does absorb all the flavours.

I printed out and followed the version on the BBC website. I couldn't get hold of any fresh oregano so I used flat leaved parsley instead - it still tasted wonderful.

A meal in itself

I can see this becoming a core weekday meal...ideal for me as it gets popped in the oven and left to cook for 50 minutes while I'm doing other things. It's almost a meal in itself...we had it last night with some fresh baked bread to soak up the delicious juices. 

As a side

I am already planning on serving this for dinner next week with some lamb chops and steamed carrots.

Versatile

What else can I stuff in there?  Olives, garlic, mushrooms, pine nuts, chickpeas, crispy bacon bits, bread crumbs.... ideal for all kinds of little left over bits in your fridge!

Tips

Don't wrap each portion of marrow separately in the greaseproof paper - do it the way Nigel does it in the show, i.e. two portions/ring stacks per "paper parcel". I made some singly and some with two per parcel - the single ones were drier and some of the liquid had even burnt but the stacks that were wrapped in pairs remained wonderfully moist.

Cooking on a budget

Marrows are very cheap - especially if you get them from a farmers market or grow them yourself and then fill them with left over bits and bobs. I believe they are quite easy to grow? I may try them out in my vegetable patch this year!