This luscious teatime treat was recommended by a friend on our Facebook page in a conversation about courgette olive oil bread. It comes from Nigella Lawson’s classic How to be a Domestic Goddess, and is reproduced here thanks to Irish community gardening guru Dee Sewell of Greenside Up.

Preparation: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves: 8

Ingredients
60g sultanas, optional
250g courgettes (2-3), weighed before grating
2 large free range eggs
125ml organic rapeseed oil
150g caster sugar, sieved
225g self-raising flour
half teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
half teaspoon baking powder

lime curd for filling (buy in shop or make your own)
2 x 21cm sandwich tins, greased and lined

Method
If you’re using sultanas, put them in a bowl and cover with warm water to plump them up.

Wipe the courgettes with kitchen towel (don’t peel them), then grate.  The coarse side of an ordinary grater is best as anything finer or smaller can make them mushy).  When the courgettes are grated turn them into a sieve over the sink to remove excess water.

Put the eggs, oil and sugar in a bowl and beat until creamy.  Sieve in the flour, bicarb and baking powder and continue to beat until well combined.  Now stir in the grated courgette and add the drained sultanas.

Equally pour the mixture into the tins and bake for 30 minutes until slightly browned and firm to the touch.  While they’re in the oven, make the icing. When baked, leave the cake in the tins on a rack for 5-10 mins then turn out and allow them to cool. Fill with lime curd and ice the top.

Lime and pistachio icing:
200g cream cheese
100g icing sugar, sieved
juice of 1 lime, or more to taste
2-3 tablespoons chopped pistachio nuts

Beat the cream cheese in a bowl until smooth, add the icing sugar, beating well to combine, then stir in the lime juice to taste. Sprinkle the pistachio nuts over the top.

In our boxes this week: –
*tomatoes – yellow or red
*yellow French beans OR peas in the pod
*parsley
*onions
*courgettes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
calabrese (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
potatoes (Restharrow)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*cucumbers
*radishes
*cavelo nero OR cauliflower

* = grown to organic principles

All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated. Please wash all vegetables and fruit.

Try these dishes on Camel CSA’s recipes page: –
Chicken with lemon, and chilli broccoli
Char–grilled broccoli with chilli and garlic

I fed this classic American loaf cake surreptitiously to a courgette-hating 11-year-old who gobbled it down and asked for a second slice. It really is delicious and ideal for summer outdoor eating.

This version from Claire Ptak of Violet Bakery in east London uses cardamom and ginger root, others prefer nutmeg and cinnamon.

It’s worth noting that our veg box courgettes don’t need salting to leach out the excess liquid, as they’re small and freshly picked. If you buy your vegetables from a supermarket though, beware.

Makes 1 900g loaf

Preparation time: 20 minutes (longer if you salt the grated courgettes)
Cooking time: 50 minutes

Ingredients
500g courgettes, grated
[1 tsp salt]
butter, for greasing
280g wholemeal flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp ground cardamom
200g olive oil
200g light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
70g knob of ginger, peeled and grated (around 50g after peeling)

Method
[Grate the courgette and toss with the salt. Put in a colander over a bowl, and allow the liquid to leach from the courgettes for 3 hours, or overnight. You will lose around 150g in liquid.]

Set the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Butter and line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with parchment.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and cardamom together. In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and ginger together. Add the drained courgette. Stir in the dry ingredients, mixing until just incorporated.

Tip into the prepared loaf tin, and bake for around 50 minutes, or until the bread is golden and springs back to the touch.

In our boxes this week: –

*yellow French beans OR peas in the pod
*cucumbers
*Swiss/rainbow chard
*mixed lettuce leaves – ‘Freckles’ / ‘Salad bowl’
*courgettes – yellow and green (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
beetroot bunch (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
potatoes (Restharrow)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*basil – green and purple
*tomatoes – yellow or red
*baby cauliflower / tenderstem broccoli

* = grown to organic principles

All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated. Please wash all vegetables and fruit.

Try these vegetarian courgette and egg dishes on Camel CSA’s recipes page: –
Pasta and zucchini (courgettes) alla carbonara
Courgette frittata

My husband in his quest to create the perfect sourdough pizza adapted a recipe from London pizzeria Franco Manca‘s book Artisan Pizza To Make Perfectly At Home.  They use wild broccoli or friarelli, but Frank used chard from this week’s veg box.  Choose your favourite pizza base (Frank makes a sourdough base from scratch but you might prefer to buy one!) and then cook the pizza as you would normally.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
4 pizza bases
200g chard leaves
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 red chilli, finely chopped
sea salt

For the tomato sauce:
1 can plum tomatoes, ‘mashed’ by hand and ‘lumpy bits’ removed
1 garlic clove, finely grated
1 tbsp olive oil

1 mozzarella cheese
black olives
basil leaves

Method
To make the tomato sauce, heat the oil in a pan, ad the grated garlic and fry gently for 2-3 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and cook until reduced by about 50%.  Remove from the heat and leave until needed.

In another pan, heat the olive oil and fry the garlic and chilli over a medium heat.  Add the chard leaves, some salt and a drop of water and cover.  Cook for about 4 minutes.  Drain well and squeeze excess water from the leaves before using.

Spread the tomato sauce over your pizza bases.  Lay some chard down on the pizzas and then top with mozzarella, olives and basil.  Cook the pizzas in your usual way.

In all the boxes this week:-
*potatoes
*beetroot
*cucumbers
*French beans – yellow
*rainbow chard
*mixed lettuce leaves – ‘Freckles’ and oak leaf
calabrese (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra new potatoes
*basil – green and purple
*blackcurrants
*courgettes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)

* = grown to organic principles

All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated. Please wash all vegetables and fruit.

Try our favourite roast beetroot recipes on Camel CSA’s recipes page: –
Baked beetroot with balsamic vinegar
Roast beetroot with balsamic, rosemary and garlic

In all the boxes this week:-
*gooseberries
*carrots
*cucumbers OR yellow French beans
*green garlic
*new potatoes (Mark Norman, Bodmin / Camel CSA)
tenderstem (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
cauliflower (Growfair Cornwall)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra new potatoes
*green onions
*courgettes (Mark Norman)
beetroot (Restharrow)

* = grown to organic principles
Please wash all vegetables and fruit. All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated

Try these ways with gooseberries on Camel CSA’s recipes page: –
Gooseberry crumble cake
Gooseberry sauce

We have tenderstem in our boxes this week, cultivated by our external grower Richard Hoare at Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick. Tenderstem is exactly that – a cross between calabrese and Chinese kale that doesn’t need trimming and can be cooked and eaten in its entirety. So no waste!

In all the boxes this week:-
*carrots
*Swiss chard
*green onions
*Cornish new potatoes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
tenderstem (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
spring greens (Restharrow)
strawberries (Mitchell Fruit Garden)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra new potatoes
*French beans OR cucumbers
*mixed lettuce bag – oak leaf,  ‘Freckles’
*courgettes (Mark Norman)

* = grown to organic principles
Please wash all vegetables and fruit. All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated

Try these yummy dishes on Camel CSA’s recipes page: –
Misticanza (sauteed mixed greens)
Spring greens with lemon dressing

“Arguably the best and simplest way to enjoy elephant garlic. Just roast it whole!” says Colin Boswell of The Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight.

Preparation time: five minutes
Cooking time: one hour

Ingredients
1 bulb elephant garlic
olive oil
salt and pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C. Chop your elephant garlic bulb in half horizontally. Drizzle the exposed cloves with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Put the bulb back together, loosely enclose in foil and place in the preheated oven. Depending on the size of the bulb it will take between 40 minutes and 1 hour to roast.

Turn down the oven to 180C and leave for an extra 30 mins to get a more caramelized flavour. Once roasted it can be simply spread on bread, served as a side to barbecued or roasted meats or added to sauces and soups.

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