Stuffed late-summer marrows braaied in foil

Every year, around September, I plant marrow seeds. They grow fast and luxuriantly, and by December we’re harvesting courgettes, zucchini, baby marrows, whatever you prefer to call them.

But I leave a few of them – the ones that look particularly robust – to grow to adulthood. And marrows can become astonishingly large. Now and then I pick one, slice it in two halves lengthwise, scoop out the soft seed bed, and set about making a stuffing for it.

Most often, this stuffing is spinach – which I cook with garlic, lemon, salt and black pepper, perhaps a few grindings of nutmeg – and feta, crumbled. But this weekend there was no spinach available, so I had a think. As one does when one happens to have to produce five recipes a week. One thinks and thinks until one has thunk enough.

Voila! What came to mind was that jar of sundried tomatoes that a friend of a friend from Bloemfontein brought as a host gift a couple of weeks ago. They’re in olive oil and possibly the most delicious sundried tomatoes I’ve ever eaten. They also have a mysteriously sweet aroma when you bring your noise near the jar – almost vanilla-like. Intriguing.

So they were the starting point for this stuffing. I also have a tub of the exquisite Jersey feta from Dalewood Fromage in the Winelands. The wheels are really thick, and I used a whole one for this, chopped finely.

But these elements were not enough, so I decided to start with onion, sliced and fried. With garlic, of course. Then I added red chilli, and fresh rosemary.

In the fridge, I had half a loop of chorizo (the other half went into this pasta dish that I made last week. The mixture having by now become rather Spanish in content, I added black olives too.

Note that the quantities below are for a fairly large marrow, about 16 cm in length. They grow twice that size, so please adjust the quantities to fit your marrow. They need to be full to the brim, so if your mixture falls short, just prepare more filling and add it until the halves are full.

It was just so delicious that I remonstrated with myself for not having thunk it up before.

Tony’s stuffed marrows braaied in foil

(Serves 4-6 as a side dish)

Ingredients

3 Tbsp olive oil and more for brushing the marrow

1 medium onion, sliced

3 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped

2 red chillies, seeded and finely chopped

12 black olives, halved, stones removed 

100 g chorizo, sliced 

1 Tbsp chopped rosemary needles

1 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped (unless they’re already small)

1 thick round of feta, diced small

Salt and black pepper to taste

Heavy duty foil

Method

Fry the onion with the garlic until softened and beginning to take on colour.

Add the chopped red chillies, olives, chorizo and rosemary, stir and simmer for a couple of minutes.

Add the sundried tomatoes and the chopped or crumbled feta and stir until the feta has melded with the mixture.

Season with salt and black pepper and stir.

Slice the marrow in two, lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp in the centre and discard.

Cut (or tear, that’s what I do) the foil so that you have two large sheets that will wrap up the “boats” generously.

Place each marrow half, cut side up, on the foil sheets.

Brush the flat sides with olive oil and season with salt and black pepper.

Spoon the mixture into the cavities, to fill.

Wrap the foil around, bunching it up on top.

Braai on hot coals (yes, touching the coals, not on a grid above them), until the marrow flesh is soft. Press an edge with your finger (it shouldn’t be so hot that you can’t touch it briefly) to gauge whether it’s soft enough.

Serve alongside whatever meat you’re braaing. DM

Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the year award, in 2021 and 2023

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