courgette cakes with smoked salmon and natural yogurt

Courgettes, the soft Provençal vegetable similar at first glance to the cucumber, work well in a multitude of dishes, including soups, omelettes, stir fries, and even just on their own.

I had not considered cooking them as cakes before, until browsing the back catalogue of Nigel Slater, who can always be counted on to devise something with that perfect seasonal touch.

First appearing in Observer in an al fresco collection, Slater’s recipe for courgette cakes combines spring onion, garlic, courgettes, egg, feta, flour – and crucially, dill. He recommends frying the cake mixture in olive oil and serving with ripe, red tomato chutney.

Unfortunately, the nineteenth of September did not provide the Indian summer evening necessary for this recipe, with which a late-summer tomato chutney and an urban balcony would work wonderfully.

A gray, sprinkling evening indoors was instead the setting. But actually, these courgette cakes were just as lovely indoors as out. The courgette mixture was warm and satisfying sans feta (only owing to the fact that I had run out and the weather wasn’t quite nice enough to warrant a quick nip to the shops). I used only half the quantity of olive oil that Slater suggested. Next time, I will consider groundnut oil, which will give a crispier edge.

Natural yogurt (a dollop of) replaced the tomato chutney and complemented the cakes (which I left slightly soft and ever so gooey in the centre) quite refreshingly. A few slices of smoked salmon served alongside finished off this simple yet very satisfying dish. A glass or two of rose to see off the summer felt quite justified, nearly elegiac.