It’s the time of year when we often have a glut of marrows - which can be grown specifically, or when courgettes (aka zucchini in America) are left to grow very large. Let’s face it - the almighty marrow might be impressive in size, but flavour-wise, can be a little bland on their own. But it’s all about the cooking process, and done right, marrows can be used as part of some amazing dishes. This post is a little different, as it contains four of my favourite vegan marrow recipes, each with a different cooking method - parboiling and sautéing, roasting, stuffing, and baking. So I hope there’s something for everyone here!
Curried marrow and chickpeas
For this recipe, the marrow is par-boiled first, then added to sautéed onions and spices along with chickpeas to create a wonderfully warming Indian-inspired dish. It’s finished with garam masala, lemon juice, fresh coriander and chilli to create a harmony of aromatic flavours. Serve on it’s own with rice or as a side dish to accompany other Indian dishes like this creamy lentil dhal.
Roasted marrow, garlic, and bean soup
A different way of cooking marrow is to roast it first, along with garlic and hardy herbs like sage and rosemary. The marrow softens and the flavours develop along with the herbs, while the garlic turns sticky, sweet and mellow. Once combined with sauteed leek, beans, spinach and stock, you’ll have a delicious, hearty, and incredibly healthy soup - perfect mopped up with good quality bread!
Gemista-style stuffed marrow
This incredible vegan gemista filling, usually used to stuff bell peppers and tomatoes, goes brilliantly stuffed inside marrow too. Gemista (or yemista) is a traditional Greek recipe that’s bursting with fresh flavours and colours. It’s sometimes made with minced meat in Greece but in my opinion it’s perfectly suited to being meat-free because then the flavours of the wonderful vegetables and aromatic herbs shine through. There are hundreds of gemista recipes in Greece, but this vegan version, with the addition of fragrant capers, the bite of the toasted almonds, and the hearty puy lentils, just takes it to another level. If you’re making this, try serving with this gigantes plaki recipe (Greek giant butter beans in a rich tomato sauce).
Vegan marrow and lemon cake
Grated and added to this wonderful cake recipe, the marrow helps retain moisture, keeping this cake soft, moist, and delicious. The marrow doesn’t impart any flavour to the cake, but does help to hydrate it. ground flax seeds are used instead of egg to bind the cake, and fresh lemon juice and zest give the cake a wonderful citrus kick along with warming spices like cinnamon and ginger. It’s delicious on its own but drizzling with this super-simple lemon icing takes it to the next level!
Vegan Curried Marrow and chickpeas recipe
Ingredients (serves 4):
1 medium marrow (800g prepared weight)
2 Tbsp rapeseed oil
2 tsp black mustard seeds
1 large (or 2 small) red onions, finely diced
1/2 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 tin chickpeas, drained (240g drained weight)
1 tsp garam masala
1 Tbsp mango chutney
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
To serve:
Fresh coriander
Plain soy yoghurt
Fresh chilli
Method:
Start by preparing your marrow. Peel the marrow and scoop out the soft, spongy flesh and seeds from the middle (see picture below - the chunk on the right has had the spongy centre scooped out). Your compost will love the peelings and discarded flesh/seeds!
Cut the prepared marrow into 2 cm chunks and add to a large pan of boiling water. Bring back to the boil and simmer for 5-6 minutes until they are fork-tender, then drain.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat, then add the mustard seeds and fry for a couple of minutes until they start to crackle and pop. Add the finely diced onion and salt, then saute for another 10 minutes to cook slowly.
When the onions had softened and begun to brown and caramelise (as per picture below), add the garlic, cumin, coriander, turmeric and chilli flakes and stir continuously for 2-3 minutes as the garlic and spices become fragrant.
Add the marrow and chickpeas to the pan and cook for a further 10 minutes. The marrow will release some liquid and become much softer. Now smash the marrow with the back of a wooden spoon to lightly crush.
Stir through the garam masala, mango chutney and lemon juice just before serving. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more salt, lemon juice, mango chutney to taste. Then top with fresh coriander, soy yoghurt, and fresh chilli.
Nutrition (per serving):
Protein: 8.3g (Women: 16.6% / Men: 15.1%)
Iron: 2.6mg (Women: 17.6% / Men: 29.9%)
Calories: 222 (Women: 11.1% / Men: 8.9%)
Sugars: 10.1g (Women: 11.2% / Men: 8.4%)
Total Fats: 9.0g (Women: 12.9% / Men: 9.5%)
Saturated Fat: 0.8g (Women: 4.0% / Men: 2.7%)
Salt: 0.8g (Women: 13.3% / Men: 13.3%)
Fibre: 7.5g (Women: 25.0% / Men: 25.0%)
Roasted marrow, garlic, and bean soup recipe (vegan)
Ingredients (serves 4):
1 medium marrow (800g prepared weight)
6 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole
4 Tbsp olive oil
6-7 sage leaves
2 sprigs rosemary
1 large leek, finely chopped
600ml vegan stock
1 x tin flageolet beans, 240g drained weight*
Salt and lots of pepper to taste
250g fresh spinach
To serve (optional)
2 Tbsp olive oil
5-6 sage leaves
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C (360F). Prepare the marrow as with the curried marrow recipe above - peel and scoop out the spongy middle, and cut to 2 cm chunks.
Add the marrow to a roasting tray with the garlic cloves, sage, rosemary and 2 Tbsp of the olive oil, then toss to coat everything in the oil. Roast for around 30 minutes until tender and the garlic is soft and turning golden.
Heat a large pan over a medium heat. Add the remaining 2 Tbsp of olive oil, then add the finely chopped leak. Saute gently for around 10 minutes until soft and turning golden.
Add the roasted marrow, garlic, and herbs to the pan (removing any tough stalks from the rosemary). Add the flageolet beans, then top up with the vegetable stock and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the spinach and cook for another few minutes until wilted. Then blitz the soup with a hand-held stick blender until smooth.
Optional crispy sage leaves to serve: Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a pan until shimmering. Add the sage leaves in a single layer. Watch them closely as they only take about 30 seconds to crisp up. Remove with a slotted spoon. Use the now sage-infused oil and crispy sage leaves to garnish your soup.
*I used flageolet beans because they’re slightly green so add to the colour of the soup, but any other green (e.g. mung) or white (e.g. cannellini, haricot) bean would work well.
Nutrition (per serving):
Protein: 10.2g (Women: 0.4% / Men: 18.5%)
Iron: 5.6mg (Women: 37.8% / Men: 64.4%)
Calories: 301 (Women: 15.1% / Men: 12.0%)
Sugars: 9.0g (Women: 10.0% / Men: 7.5%)
Total Fats: 14.6g (Women: 20.9% / Men: 15.4%)
Saturated Fat: 2.2g (Women: 11.0% / Men: 7.3%)
Salt: 0.7g (Women: 11.7% / Men: 11.7%)
Fibre: 8.9g (Women: 29.7% / Men: 29.7%)
Gemista-style stuffed marrow (vegan)
Ingredients (serves 4):
1 large marrow (approx 1kg)
3 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
4 Tbsp almonds, roughly chopped
100g uncooked medium-grain rice
1 x 250g pack pre-cooked puy lentils
1 red onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small carrot, finely chopped
Handful fresh mint, chopped
Handful fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
2 Tbsp capers, roughly chopped
2 tsp caster sugar
Pinch of salt and pepper to taste
4 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp tomato puree
Method:
Preheat your oven to 180C (360F)
Roughly chop your almonds then lightly toast them in a small frying pan for a few minutes without any oil, until they start to smell fragrant. Remove from the heat.
Add the toasted almonds and all the remaining ingredients to a large mixing bowl, and stir thoroughly to combine.
Cut your marrow in half length-ways and scoop out and discard the soft flesh and seeds from the middle. Spoon the gemista filling into one half of the marrow until heaped, then place the other half back over the top to loosely seal everything so the rice mixture can gently steam cook inside the marrow.
Place the stuffed marrow onto a baking tray and place in the centre of the oven to bake for 60-70 minutes until the rice is cooked through and the marrow is soft and tender. Another way to stuff smaller marrows or round courgettes is to just chop the tops off, scoop out the centres, spoon the stuffing in, then replace the top to seal (like in the first picture).
Nutrition (per serving):
Protein: 14.5g (Women: 29.0% / Men: 26.4%)
Iron: 4.9mg (Women: 33.1% / Men: 56.3%)
Calories: 417 (Women: 20.9% / Men: 16.7%)
Sugars: 13.0g (Women: 14.4% / Men: 10.8%)
Total Fats: 18.1g (Women: 25.9% / Men: 19.1%)
Saturated Fat: 2.4g (Women: 12.0% / Men: 8.0%)
Salt: 0.4g (Women: 6.7% / Men: 6.7%)
Fibre: 12.2g (Women: 40.7% / Men: 40.7%)
Vegan marrow and lemon cake
Ingredients (makes 10 slices):
350g marrow or courgette, prepared weight
110g vegetable oil
2 Tbsp ground flax seeds
150g golden caster sugar
Zest of 2 lemons
Juice of 1 lemon
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
For the lemon glaze
80g icing sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Method:
Preheat you oven to 170C (350F). Line a 2 lb (900g) loaf tine with baking paper - leaving some overhanging to help lift the cake out when ready.
To make flax ‘eggs’, add the ground flax seeds to a small bowl or cup with 6 Tbsp water. Stir to combine and leave to sit for at least 5 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients and it’ll turn gloopy in this time.
Cut the marrow into slices, and scoop out the spongy centre and seeds, but no need to peel. If using courgettes, there’s no need to scoop out any flesh. Use a box grater to coarsely grate the marrow or courgette - you should have 350g grated marrow.
Place the grated marrow in a clean tea towel and squeeze out most of the moisture. If you do this into a bowl on the scales, you should weigh about 75g of liquid removed. Discard the liquid.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the oil, flax ‘eggs’, sugar, lemon zest and juice together until smooth, then stir in the grated marrow. Sift in the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt and gently combine.
Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin, and bake in the oven for around 70 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin.
To make the lemon glaze, simply mix the lemon juice and icing sugar together in a cup until smooth. When the cake is cooled, drizzle over the top and sprinkle with extra lemon zest to decorate.
Nutrition (per slice):
Protein: 3.6g (Women: 7.2% / Men: 6.5%)
Iron: 1.8mg (Women: 12.2% / Men: 20.7%)
Calories: 305 (Women: 15.3% / Men: 12.2%)
Sugars: 22.7g (Women: 25.2% / Men: 18.9%)
Total Fats: 12.1g (Women: 17.3% / Men: 12.7%)
Saturated Fat: 1.3g (Women: 6.5% / Men: 4.3%)
Salt: 0.3g (Women: 5.0% / Men: 5.0%)
Fibre: 1.5g (Women: 5.0% / Men: 5.0%)
See the Nutrition Info page for more details on % of Dietary Reference Values for men and women.
