Courgette, Mint and Buffalo Mozzarella Salad

The lone courgette that I’d retrieved from the back of the fridge lay on the chopping board for some time this lunchtime before I finally decided what to make with it. I was determined that it wouldn’t end up in the bin and besides, I was hungry. I turned to Jamie Oliver for inspiration, flicking to the pages on courgettes in his ‘Jamie at home’ book, and sure enough there was the inspiration I was looking for; the suggestion of teaming courgette with mint. This was perfect as I have lots of mint in the kitchen at the moment - I'm currently going through a phase of experimenting with it. I’m finding that mint works very well with a whole array of ingredients, and that there’s much more mileage in this astonishingly fragrant herb than just lamb and new potatoes!

I also had a bag of green leaves and some buffalo mozzarella in the fridge so put together this salad, which of course had the benefit of being quick and easy to prepare. It all married together nicely and the courgettes were extremely flavoursome with the mint, sea salt and black pepper – be generous with the seasoning if you decide to try this.

Courgette, Mint and Buffalo Mozzarella Salad

Ingredients
1 courgette
1 ball of buffalo mozzarella
4 large handfuls of green salad leaves
6 mint leaves
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Black pepper

Dice the courgette and finely chop the mint leaves. Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and add the courgette and mint leaves. Season generously with sea salt and black pepper and sauté over a medium heat until the courgette just starts to colour and soften, but still has a bite in the middle.

Tear the mozzarella into pieces and lay it over the salad leaves. Allow the courgette to cool a little and then scatter it over the salad. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Serves 2