Courgette, Tomato & Brie Gratin
This dish was born of a sad-looking courgette in my fridge, half of a very large onion that was starting to dry out, and some bits and pieces from my cupboard. The rice makes this filling and comforting, and the cheese, tomato and slightly crisp courgettes have me reaching for a second portion even when I am pleasantly full. If you have always been a bit disdainful about courgettes, this simple supper might just change your mind… You can double the recipe quantities to serve 4 people, in which case, use a roasting tin rather than individual ovenproof dishes.
Serves 2:
1 onion
150g rice (I use standard long grain but wholemeal is really good in this)
1 chicken or vegetable stock cube, dissolved in 200ml boiling water
1 x 400g carton or tin of chopped tomatoes
a few sprigs of fresh basil
a few sprigs of fresh parsley
1 large courgette
50g Brie cheese or to taste (I admit to using much more than that at times…)
a drizzle of oil, plus a little extra to grease the ovenproof dishes
First, preheat your oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.
Peel and dice the onion and toss into a medium pan with the rice. Pour the stock in a little at a time on a low heat, stirring frequently until each addition is absorbed, and then adding the next. You may need to add more or less liquid until the rice is just cooked, but water to top up will be just fine if you run out of stock.
Add the chopped tomatoes, tear over the fresh basil and parsley leaves, and stir through. Remove the pan from the heat.
Finely slice the courgette into approx 1mm slices and dice the Brie into small pieces.
Spoon the rice-and-tomato-and-onion mixture into two small greased ovenproof dishes, ramekins or bowls. Scatter the Brie on top. Then lay the courgette slices over the cheese so that they overlap, and brush or drizzle with a little oil.
Cook in the oven for 15 minutes until lightly toasted on top. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly, and serve.
TIPS: If, like me, you are a big cheese fiend, add grated Parmesan or another hard strong cheese on top of the courgette before popping it in the oven.
‘Courgette, tomato and Brie gratin’ recipe from A Girl Called Jack by Jack Monroe.
Jack Monroe. Twitter: @MsJackMonroe. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/agirlcalledjack
Photography by Susan Bell.
Categories: Recipes & Food, RICE, VEGETARIAN
This looks delicious! I love a good gratin, but I’ve never made one with courgettes before. Definitely one to try next time I’ve got a courgette glut.
It was absolutely delicious, highly recommended. Small Boy demolished it too 🙂 Trick is to slice the courgettes thin and the Brie thick…. Mm mm mm. 🙂 Let me know how it goes when you try it! X
Thanks for the tip – I’ll bear that in mind! I’m drooling already…
This was yummy! I added the garlic and a splash of white wine – I’m afraid it didn’t quite make it to the fridge for portion 2! Thanks!
Glad you liked it! 🙂
trying this tonight with your lemon curd pudding 🙂
Amazed at how cheap all my ingredients came too!! Can’t wait for the book i’m first in line 🙂
Menu planning with your recipes for the next week – love how cheap everything is, thank you. Quick thing on this one – the chopped tomatoes are missing from the ingredients list…
If I have any left over brie I usually use it to make pizzas using mini naan and homemade tomato sauce with brie and olives scattered on top yum yum !
Just made my own variation of this and it is absolutely delicious. I used feta cheese instead of Brie and also added some Parmesan. To the rice fresh basil, parsley and thyme. I also added lemon zest and juice. I had some left overs in jars of red pepper and sun dried tomatoes which went in too. Scrummy! Will be making again.
I have courgettes growing in the garden at the moment, and I have a fairly cheap favourite recipe for them myself.
Slice courgettes and potatoes and onion or leek and layer in a dish. Take a tin of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup (you need to go to Home Bargains for this though as it is only 54p there and around £1 in most of the supermarkets) add either milk or a little white wine and plenty of fresh ground black pepper and pour over the veg. Bake 🙂
You can also do the same layers with a Philly type cheese slightly thinned with milk – and you can add other veg to the layers as well if you want, and different herbs with the pepper – any of them are lovely 🙂
Could you recommend another cheese for this other than brie? 🙂
Any – cheddar, soft cheese, value range hard cheese, mozzarella… Feta is good with courgettes and tomatoes – Sainsburys do a great Basics Greek cheese for about 65p that’s like feta. 🙂
Thanks so much. 🙂
Made this tonight. Absolutely delish. This is the 3rd recipe I tried and they’ve all been fab. They’ll all most definitely become staples! This blog is amazing. Thanks so much, Jack.
You didn’t budget in the can of tomatoes
This looks delicious~ in the US we call those zucchinis and they (along with yellow summer squash) are my fav veggies! They are in season and super cheap right now so we will certainly be trying this soon! Sending love from Atlanta, GA!
Fan-effing-tastic dish! Really lovely, and cheap and quick and, and…just wonderful! 🙂
wow! i will try this one for sure 🙂
Super delicious! I made this tonight and will defo make again 🙂
How long are you cooking the rice for? I’ve got easy cook white long grain rice, have been cooking it for 10 mins adding the stock bit by bit but it’s still hard. The book doesn’t specify how long to keep going except to say “nearly cooked”. My little boy might wake up from his nap any minute so I haven’t got long!
Can you freeze this or does the courgette and cheese go mushy if you do?