Grilled Courgette Salad with Ricotta, Toasted Hazelnuts and Anchovy Dressing

This simple salad is packed with flavour and goes with everything during summer, just pick the best courgettes you can find. It’s sweet, creamy, salty and crunchy. You can use a griddle pan if you don’t have a bbq fired up.

Ingredients

4 medium courgettes, sliced in 1 cm slices

50 grams hazelnuts, toasted

8-10 caper berries, halved

100 g ricotta

4-6 anchovy fillets

1 small garlic clove, grated

I lemon, juice and zest

25g flat leaf parsley, finely sliced

30-50 ml olive oil

Black pepper

Method

Take a big tray or board and dress with paper towels, place the courgette slices on top and sprinkle with table salt, put paper towels over the courgettes. Let this sit for 20 mins minimum to drain water out of the courgettes.

In the meantime, put anchovies, garlic, lemon zest and juice parsley to a pestle and mortar, drizzle the olive oil and bash to a rough mixture. Season with black pepper. Hold back on the added salt for now, it’s better to add salt later as both anchovies and caper berries are very salty.

Heat up a griddle pan (or if you have a bbq going) and grill your courgette on both sides. When all slices are done plate up, drizzle the dressing on top, break up the ricotta in chunks, sprinkle with hazelnuts and add the caper berries.