I had some beautiful courgette/zucchini in my veg box this week and I’ve been on a “try new things” kick, so I decided to try a recipe by a chef named Noor, who is part of Ottolenghi’s test kitchen. She has been spending her lockdown in Bahrain and has been sharing excellent and easy lockdown recipes from her lockdown kitchen with a Bahrain twist! This one is roasted courgette/zucchini with a warmed yogurt mint sauce called Laban. I wasn’t sure about this, but was delighted to discover this dish is magnificent. Really. I didn’t have saffron, but turns out any infused butter or oil would do. I’m not sure how non-dairy yogurt would work here, since I’m not sure how they all hold up with heat. Bread in nice for sopping up any extra sauce. Anyhow, here is what you do.

Slice 2 courgette/zucchini into very thick long strips. Toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and put on the middle rack under the broiler until they look grilled and charred. You need to keep watching them so they don’t burn.

Warm the non dairy or dairy butter or oil in the microwave and add the spices you want to infuse. Or warm up an infused oil or butter. Let that sit while you do everything else. Or do it in a small pan. Whatever you want.

Mix 1 1/4 tsp of cornflour/cornstarch and 3 tbsp of water until smooth. Add this to 300g of Greek style plain yogurt, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and 1/2 tbsp of olive oil, and a pinch of salt. If you have only dried mint, add 1/2 tsp of it now. If you have fresh mint, add about 5g of it after you cook the yogurt sauce. Stir all of this together and then add it to a pan and cook it on medium heat. Stir this continuously for about 10 mins until it gets thick. You don’t want this on high heat or else the yogurt will split. When the sauce has thickened add fresh mint and put on your plate. Top with courgette/zucchini, drizzle with yummy butter. Done.