Stuffing a Marrow

We’ve all got marrows to stuff. At least, we gardeners have at present. I have never known so many friends and relations try to pass overgrown courgettes off on one another. 

The thing about these long green sausages of the garden is that: a) they don’t last long, b) they don’t freeze well, and c) they don’t really taste of much.

My early memories of marrow are of a light green mush that tasted of salted water, smothered in a thick white sauce that tasted of salted four. During the intervening years people developed several ways of making marrows taste of something – which basically meant stuffing their innards with highly flavoured ingredients. 

The trouble is, nine out of ten stuffed marrows still end up with the mushy consistency and flavour of semi-solid salty water. 

That’s the bad news. The good news is that, after years of trial and error, I have found a way of giving the flaccid marrow flesh some solidity and punch. And, free of charge, I am going to pass that knowledge on to readers without more ado.

The first question, having struggled to your kitchen under the weight of the gigantic green torpedo, is whether to cut it in half lengthways and gouge out the seed core, or to slice it crossways into cutlets then push the soft centre out leaving a hole in the middle of each round. For the technique I am about to describe, the latter method is most practical – however, discs of stuffed marrow don’t offer the same centrepiece drama of the two long, boat-like, halves. 

I say that because salt is the simple ingredient that helps you to achieve the magic of firmer better-flavoured marrow flesh. The more surfaces of flesh you can apply the salt to, the better. It’s no use salting the thick green skin, by the way, as it is impervious even to the attentions of voracious slugs. 

So, rub handfuls of sea salt into the pale green flesh wherever you can. If this is restricted to the two surfaces you’ve cut lengthways, then place the two halves flesh side down on a grill above a receptacle which will catch the water. If you have marrow cutlets, it doesn’t matter which way up you place them, but you will still need something to catch the water because – left over several hours – a surprising amount will be drawn out by the salt. 

It’s best to leave the marrows to bleed under the salt treatment for as long as you can (I leave mine overnight), then wash the surfaces under cold running water and pat dry. 

Then comes step two in the bid to give your marrow some muscle. Place the dried pieces skin side up in a fan oven and leave under a low heat (say 100c) for 15 minutes. Yet more water will exude from the flesh, making it as firm and as flavoursome as any marrow can be.

Now we are ready for the stuffing. The traditional favourite is based on mince beef and this week, in the interests of experimentation, I made two different versions from some top-notch mince I bought at n organic farm.  

One was a classic bolognaise-style sauce of the moist variety, the other was a drier mix that turned the marrow half into a sort of gigantic beef burger holder. Both were fantastic and would happily sit as centrepieces at any supper-party with friends – but I do have to emphasise that you must either buy the very best quality mince, or make your own from chunks of good, grass-fed, beef. Also, I think it’s important to introduce a variety of texture by adding things like chopped celery or peppers. 

For the basic sauce:

500 grams of mince beef

1 chopped onion

as much chopped/crushed garlic as you like

3 chopped sticks of celery

four rashers of dry cured streaky bacon chopped

half a dozen fresh skinned tomatoes, or one can of ready chopped

2 tblsp tomato puree

2 dried smoked chilli peppers or large teaspoon of Spanish smoked paprika

generous glass of red wine

handful of any garden herbs

a pinch of salt a heavy grating of black pepper

half a dozen slices of Cornish Garland wild garlic cheese

Fry the beef making sure it’s all browned, drain off the fat and put to one side. Using the same pan, gently fry the onion until just a touch golden then add the bacon, chopped celery and lastly the garlic. Put the beef and vegetables into a large pan and throw in the wine, tomatoes, the puree, and chillies or paprika. 

After ten to 15 minutes over a medium flame the mix will have settled into a nice gloopy consistency. Now it’s simply a matter of seasoning and spooning it into the marrow that has been dealt with in the way I’ve described above. Put the lot into a medium oven (175c), reserving a little of the sauce mix to add halfway through the 40 minute cooking time, as the stuffing tends to shrink. After 35 minutes place the cheese slices on top of your beefy marrow boat, and allow to melt. Serve with steamed runner beans from the garden and/or new potatoes. 

For the dry version, use all the same ingredients with some additional chopped bell peppers and a large tablespoon of French mustard –  substituting the paprika element for a couple of fresh chopped chillies - and leaving out the tomatoes, puree and red wine.  Simply mix the lot together by hand in a bowl until the chopped vegetables are evenly spread through the mix. Season, adding loads of fresh grated black pepper. Stuff the marrow and, this time, wrap the whole lot up tightly in cooking foil. You can remove this 30 minutes into the 40-minute cooking time and allow the top of the stuffing to brown slightly, adding cheese if you like. 

The great thing about the dry version is that it can be sliced quite thinly and used for picnics.

I have also been pickling the young courgettes this summer and the results are fantastic. I won’t give a recipe here because you basically make a pickling medium in the usual way and then add whatever herbs and spices you have in your garden.