Nigel Slater's recipes for baked zucchini with lemongrass, plus grilled mushrooms, zucchini and crumbs

If you grow your own zucchini, you have the option of picking them small – barely thicker than your index finger – and eating them raw. You can thinly slice them into small pieces and marinate them with olive oil, lemon juice and basil leaves for an effortless salad. Harvested in this tiny state, their flesh is soft and waxy, their skin thin and pale. A quiet and elegant late summer dish.

When they get bigger, I like to sauté my zucchini with the pancetta or bacon fat, then drizzle them with vinegar of white wine and whole parsley leaves. You can cut a large zucchini into ribbons with a vegetable peeler and mark it on the hot plate then dress it with chopped anchovies, olive oil and finely chopped and seeded tomatoes. I also love the grilled ribbons marinated in salsa verde, with shredded pieces of bread to mop up the sloppy garlic dressing. every night, for each table. After 12 months, I haven't been able to watch another for years, and even now there's something fierce about them. When I grow them in the garden, I leave the last stragglers for the birds to peck on, having had my fix in early fall. They are reliable – cheap, reliable and easy to cook. A really good thing to have around.

This week I sliced ​​several whoppers into rounds and cooked them with bok choi, then put them back in the oven with lemongrass, chilli and coconut cream. We ate them with brown rice. The larger ones (they seem to multiply in the fridge) were sliced ​​and tossed with a little bosky tangle of mushrooms, dill and juniper berries. It was a nice end to the season.

Zucchini baked with lemongrass and coconut cream

Best to leave the slightly crispy dressing on the zucchini. Once they are nicely browned, add the pak choi and coconut milk and cook until the zucchini are well grilled. Serves 2-3 with rice

35gail ginger 4 cloves lemongrass 2 stalks bird's eye chili 2 ground turmeric 1 teaspoon flakes sea ​​salt ½ tsp peanut oil 6 tbsp zucchini 500gpak choi 2 plump spring onions 3coconut cream 200ml

whole grain rice steam to serve

Peel and coarsely chop the ginger then put it in a food processor. Peel the garlic and add it to the ginger. Remove the outer leaves of the lemongrass and the tough ends of the stems, then chop them and add them to the bowl.

Cut the chilies in half lengthwise , remove the stems and seeds, then add to the ginger along with the turmeric and sea salt flakes. Process into a thick paste, pouring in the oil as the blades turn. Reserve the mixture (it will keep for several days, well covered, in the refrigerator).

Preheat the oven to 200C/thermostat 6. Line a roasting pan with foil. Wipe the courgettes and cut them into thick slices (1cm pieces) then put them in a bowl. Add batter and toss to lightly coat zucchini, then place in foil-lined roasting pan. Bake for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut each head of pak choi in 4 lengthways and finely chop the spring onions. Mix the pak choi and onions together then, when the courgettes have cooked for 25 minutes, add the vegetables and the coconut cream and mix gently.

Return the mold to the oven and continue cooking for a good 15-20 minutes until the pak choi is tender (the stalks should retain a little crunch, with the leaves soft), the zucchini golden. Serve in bowls with steamed rice.

Mushrooms, zucchini and toasted breadcrumbs