A guid harvest

A fine crop of apples this year, and some deliciously sweet and juicy pears, too. The plums didn't fare so well - the reine claudes were very sparse and the damsons are only now reaching their deep purple bloom. I planted all these trees myself about six or seven years ago (on a sticky hot day when I had to dig down a metre for each one) and they are really beginning to produce!

In other news, here is the recipe I promised for zucchini ripieni - or stuffed courgettes. This is for two people.

1 large courgette
1 large onion
2 tbsps olive oil
2 tbsps toasted pine nuts
1 tbsp raisins (or sultanas)
6 oz minced lamb
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tbsp dried mint
1 tsp salt

For Topping
1 tub Greek yoghurt
1 egg
1 generous handful of grated cheddar cheese
Some grated or powdered Parmesan

Cut the courgette in half, lengthways. Using a grapefruit knife, scoop out the flesh to leave a shell of each half and place them in an oven dish. Discard any seedy flesh and roughly chop the remainder.

Roughly chop the onion, and add the onion and courgette to the olive oil in a preheated wok (or your favourite pan). When the mixture is soft add the lamb and stir fry until cooked. Toss in the pine nuts and raisins, mix through, then add the mint, salt and cinnamon. Stir fry for a further couple of minutes.

Spoon the mix into the courgette shells, heaping it high along the length of each one and pressing down.

For the topping, mix up the yoghurt, egg and grated cheese then spoon over the top of the courgettes. Finish by sprinkling grated cheddar or Parmesan along the tops and drizzle with a little olive oil. Pour a little boiling water into the bottom of the oven dish and place in an oven preheated to 200C. Cook for 35 minutes and serve on individual plates.

Et voila!