Oven based dishes like this creamy courgette & butterbean bake are great because they don’t take oodles of time stirring pans. Chop the veg etc – sling it in the pan, pop it in the oven – and hey presto it’s mostly done. There are a few twiddles along the way, but nothing too onerous.
Courgettes are often in great abundance – especially if you tend an allotment or veg patch. Bang – they’re suddenly there – that’s when a suite of courgette friendly recipes are handy. Especially easy ones like this! It’s not a difficult dish – mainly a bit of chopping. The only moderately difficult part is making the creamy cashew sauce. It’s not even necessary to soak the cashews in advance – 30 minutes in boiling water suffices.
I recently bought a Le Crueset sauteuse recently, and although it was expensive, I’m very pleased with it. It’s very easy to use, and is brilliant for so many dishes. This dish requires an oven proof pan with a lid – so it’s perfect for this creamy courgette & butterbean bake.
It does help if you have a Nutribullet style blender, but if even a food processor will make the sauce. It may take a little longer though. I’ve added a few extra ingredients – to a basic online recipe and neatened up the method. So you’ll find sun dried tomatoes and vegan parmesan, and next time I make it, I’m going to try a few capers!
With the butter beans, parmesan, bread crumbs it’s filling enough to be a main meal in itself. However there’s nothing to stop you serving it as very apetising accompaniment.
It goes well with hummus, garlic bread, veggie crumble, spanakopita, spinach & lentil pie, leek and polenta flan etc.
Creamy Courgette & Butterbean Bake
Ingredients
The basic veggies for the oven
- 800 g fresh courgettes roughly 4 medium ones
- 100 g garlic 2 to 3 bulbs - use less if you like
- 1 teasp black pepper
- ½ teasp salt I use low sodium/lo-salt
- 75 g cold pressed olive oil use less if you wish.
- 800 g butter beans 2 tins plus some of the juice
A Few Extras To Add at varous times
- 35 g sundried tomatoes chopped into fairly small pieces
- 25 g capers
- 25 g fresh basil
The creamy Cashew Sauce
- 100 g cashew pieces soaked for 30 mins in hot water
- 2 whole garlic cloves
- 3 tbsps yeast flakes heaped
- ½ teasp black pepper
- ½ teasp salt I use low sodium/lo-salt
- ½ whole lemon juiced plus the zest of the whole lemon a whole lemon is a bit too lemony!
- 60 g water or oat milk approx to get a creamy, but thickish sauce.
The Crunchy Topping
- 20 g almonds
- ½ slice wholemeal bread
- 1 teasp black pepper
- 1 teasp garlic granules
- 35 g vegan parmesan
Instructions
- wash and trim the courgettes, cut in half lengthways, and then cut into rough shapes around 2cm in size
- Add to a fairly large casserole pan with a good fitting lid. My Le Creuset sauteuse is ideal.
- Peel and trim the garlic and add to the same pan
- add in the black pepper, salt, & olive oil and mix well.
- Put the lid on and put in a preheated oven set to 160°C Fan/180°C ordinary, for 40 mins. You can pre-heat the pan on the hob if you want to so it starts cooking more quickly.
Making the cashew cream sauce
- Add all the cashew cream ingredients to a high speed blender or if you don't have one, use a blender although it will take a little longer.
- Blend well, and add any extra liquid as necessary to get a smooth but thickish sauce. Transfer to a jug if you wish to make it easier to add to the main dish.
Making the crunchy topping
- chop the bread up into fairly small pieces and
- Add to a food processor along with all the other ingredients. Then process until the mixture is reduced to fairly fine crumbs.
- add in small amount of olive oil and blitz briefly to distribute the oil.
- transfer to a baking tray and put in the oven (next to the oven dish with the courgettes) for roughly 15 minutes until nicely browned - be careful it doesn't get over toasted.
- remove from the oven and allow to cool - once cooled add the grated vegan parmesan & set aside in a bowl.
continuing with the main courgette dish.
- After 40 minutes, check that the courgettes are fairly soft using a fork, then add in the sun-dried tomatoes, capers, chopped basil and stir well.
- Replace in the oven but this time without the lid so that the courgettes & garlic brown off somewhat.
- Remove from the oven and lightly mash/squash with a fork. Don't overdo it though. At the same time, turn up the oven to 175°C fan (195°C ordinary) so it's hotter when it goes back in.
- Add in the beans and the cashew cream sauce and mix well.
- Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the surface including the parmesan.
- return the pan to the oven with the lid off for 5 minutes to re-heat and crisp up the topping. Don't overdo this stage though.
