Charred courgette pieces on cous cous with little tofu medallions pan-fried and salad leaves and dots of salad dressing glistening in the sun
Charred Courgette with Spelt Tofu Medallions and Pickled Courgettes

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If you cook my recipes, your food will look like mine.

Charred Courgette with Spelt Tofu Medallions

Garden Heat Meets Indian Memory

Table of Contents

✨ Before We Begin

Charred courgette smells like summer. It’s tender, smoky, slightly sweet — a quiet kind of flavour that needs little help. Here, it meets a spiced tofu medallion and a handful of sensory extras: zingy pickle, crumbly peanut spice and creamy yoghurt. It’s built for barefoot evenings and early dusks.

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‘Must be best food offer, of any genre, in Kendal. Hugely accomplished cooking and very much recommended.’
Tony P, Kendal; Food Customer

The Cook’s Mind

Make-Ahead

  • The tofu medallions can be formed earlier in the day and refrigerated.
  • The crumb and pickles can be made 1–2 days in advance.

Freezer-Friendly

  • The medallions freeze well before cooking — layer between parchment.
  • The rest is best made fresh for texture and flavour.

Rescue Mission – What To Do When Things Go Wrong

  • Tofu not binding? Add a tiny bit more spelt flour and mix gently.
  • Courgette burning? Lower the heat and add a splash of water to steam.
  • Crumb too dry? Add a dab more purée or oil to loosen.

Key Substitutions

  • Swap courgette for aubergine or mushrooms.
  • Use chickpea flour instead of spelt for a gluten-free version.
  • Mint yoghurt can be replaced with a tahini drizzle or herbed oil.

Cooking Parlance

  • “Score diagonally” = shallow criss-cross cuts to help flavour penetrate and allow even cooking.
  • “Medallion” = round, flat patty shape, slightly firm but tender when pressed.

A Note on Origin

Born from the garden and inspired by Indian cooking memories — this is a dish of sun, spice, and practical poetry. It pulls together comfort flavours from childhood curry plates and the simple pride of cooking with what’s on hand, outside, in rhythm with the season.

Ingredient Focus: Courgette

Courgettes love a bit of fire. They caramelise on the outside, stay juicy inside, and carry whatever you give them — spice, smoke, or citrus. Scoring them lets the flavour soak in and gives the crumb something to hold.

✨ Green sunbursts — soft-hearted and summer-skinned.

To Ingredient Focus: Courgette

My Favourite Way To Eat

Al fresco, of course — fingers hovering between crumb and yoghurt, a fork pushing leaves around. Georgia nearby. The air warm. Everything served straight from the chopping board like a half-built picnic. Maybe a second helping, maybe not.

Serving Suggestions

  • Serve over warm brown rice or with flatbreads.
  • Add extra fresh leaves and edible flowers for a fancier plate.
  • Pair with grilled sweetcorn and a wedge of lime.

Multi-Purpose Recipe

This recipe has more than one life…

Today’s composed plate becomes tomorrow’s grain bowl or wrap filling.

  • Use leftovers inside a wrap with hummus and pickles.
  • Turn the medallions into mini sliders with a tahini drizzle.
  • Cook large ‘boats’ of courgettes and top with the medallion filling.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • It’s colourful, bold, and full of contrast.
  • It’s warm meets cool, soft meets crunch.
  • It feels like effort but cooks like instinct. A plant-based plate that makes you pause and smile.

What Will You Learn Whilst Making This Recipe?

  • You’ll learn how to layer flavour, build texture, and balance a plate.
  • You’ll practise searing, shaping, and pickling
  • You’ll see how even small touches make a meal feel complete.

Handpicked to Go With This One

A few recipes that play well together — flavour friends, not just neighbours.

Waste Less: How To Use Up Your Ingredient Stash!

Got something spare — a handful, a spoonful, or the end of a packet? These tags help you find other ways to use it. It’s a small step toward cooking intuitively and wasting less❣️

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Charred Courgette with Spelt Tofu Medallions Recipe

Charred courgette pieces on cous cous with little tofu medallions pan-fried and salad leaves and dots of salad dressing glistening in the sun

Charred Courgette with Spelt Tofu Medallions

Julia Savory
This dish layers charred courgette with golden tofu medallions made from spelt flour and Indian-inspired spices. A fragrant crumb, pickled ribbons, and lemony yoghurt lift the dish into something quietly celebratory. It’s light yet satisfying, full of texture and contrast — a grounded, garden-born plate that brings comfort and intrigue in equal measure.
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Photographed truthfully. If you cook it, yours will look like mine.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dinner, Main
Cuisine British Home Cooking, Inspired by Indian Flavours
Servings 2 people
Calories/Seving 483 kcal

Ingredients
  

Ingredients for the Vinaigrette

  • 2 pinch salt
  • 2 tsp soft light brown sugar
  • 30 ml apple cider vinegar
  • 60 ml extra virgin rapeseed oil
  • 2 tsp dijon mustard
  • ½ tsp fresh garlic | finely grated

Ingredients for Herbed Yoghurt

  • 3 tbsp plain yoghurt | use the one you like; unsweetened
  • 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • ¼ tsp fresh lemon zest
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 tsp fresh mint | or use coriander if that's what you have

Ingredients for Quick Pickled Courgette Ribbons

  • 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp soft light brown sugar
  • 12 units courgette ribbons | raw; used a potato peeler or mandolin

Ingredients for Crumb

  • 2 tbsp dry roasted peanuts
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 1 tbsp desiccated coconut
  • ¼ tsp ground coriander
  • ¼ tsp ground cumin
  • ⅛ tsp salt

Ingredients for Spelt Tofu Medallions

  • 75 g firm tofu | crumbled into small crumbs
  • 30 g red onion | very finely chopped
  • ¼ tsp smoked paprika
  • ¼ tsp ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp ground coriander
  • ¼ tsp sumac
  • ⅛ tsp salt
  • ⅛ tsp ground black pepper
  • ½ clove fresh garlic
  • 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp fresh lemon zest
  • 1 tsp tomato purée
  • 1½ tbsp spelt flour
  • ½ tbsp fresh coriander | finely chopped

Other Ingredients

  • 1 unit courgette | cut in half lengthways, then cut again on the diagonal to make the size and number of pieces you want
  • ½ tbsp olive oil | to cook the courgette
  • 70 g brown rice | 35g per person, dried weight; dressed with fresh coriander and a little vinaigrette.
  • 2 units cherry tomatoes | thinly sliced, lengthways; to dress the plate
  • 20 g salad leaves | or rocket, watercress…
  • 2 sprays oil spray
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Instructions
 

Prepare the Vinaigrette

  • Mix the ingredients listed, and put to one side ready.
    2 pinch salt, 2 tsp soft light brown sugar, 30 ml apple cider vinegar, 60 ml extra virgin rapeseed oil, 2 tsp dijon mustard, ½ tsp fresh garlic, ⅛ tsp salt

Prepare the Herbed Yoghurt

  • Mix the ingredients listed, and put to one side ready.
    3 tbsp plain yoghurt, 1 tsp fresh lemon juice, ¼ tsp fresh lemon zest, 1 tsp fresh mint, 1 pinch salt

Prepare the Quick Pickled Courgette Ribbons

  • Put a little heat under the pan, mix the ingredients listed into the pan and warm gently until the sugar and salt dissolve.
    4 tbsp apple cider vinegar, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp soft light brown sugar
  • Add the prepared ribbons and leave for 15 minutes or more. Roll into curls using some cooks tweezers. These can be done in advance.
    12 units courgette ribbons

Prepare the Crumb

  • Toast the ingredients listed in a dry frying pan on a low heat. Allow to cool and then blitz to a fine crumb.
    2 tbsp dry roasted peanuts, 1 tbsp sesame seeds, 1 tbsp desiccated coconut, ¼ tsp ground coriander, ¼ tsp ground cumin

Prepare the Tofu Medallions

  • Mix the ingredients listed. Ideally mix the wetter ingredients together first, the dryer ingredients together, and then mix the dry into the wet.
    75 g firm tofu, 30 g red onion, ¼ tsp smoked paprika, ¼ tsp ground cumin, ¼ tsp ground coriander, ¼ tsp sumac, ⅛ tsp salt, ⅛ tsp ground black pepper, ½ clove fresh garlic, 1 tsp fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp fresh lemon zest, 1 tsp tomato purée, 1½ tbsp spelt flour, ½ tbsp fresh coriander
  • Press into small balls in the palm of your hands; 20mm diameter. Put on a lightly floured board and then squash with the back of spoon to make medallions. You will have some mix left over; eat raw as a sandwich filling or make a pattie for later in the week.

Cook!

  • Gently cook the rice; drain it when finished and keep warm in the pan with a lid on. You can wrap the pan in a tea towel to really hold the heat in there. Add some chopped coriander and a little dressing. Just so that it's not a block of under-dressed carbohydrate on your palate.
    70 g brown rice
  • Heat a frying pan (ideally one with a lid), on medium low, with 1/2 tbsp olive oil.
    ½ tbsp olive oil
  • Cut shallow diagonal lines across the courgette flesh to help it cook evenly. Place the courgette, skin side down, in the pan. Sprinkle salt on the side facing up. Put a lid on and cook the courgette for a few minutes. When the skin side is brown, turn over to cook the scored side for a few minutes, until it is brown.
    1 unit courgette
  • Spray the tray of your air fryer with oil spray, put the medallions onto the tray, spray the tops of the medallions with oil spray, then cook for 4 minutes at 200 ℃.
    2 sprays oil spray
  • Plate: place the rice on the plate. Add herbed yoghurt in the middle.
    Place the courgette slices topped with some of the crumb. Add medallions, pickled curls and leaves. Tuck in some tomato slices. Add little squeezes of dressing to the food and careful dots to the plate (shake the dressing vigorously so that the dots of dressing hold their form/don't separate).
    2 units cherry tomatoes, 20 g salad leaves

Nutrition

Calories: 483kcalCarbohydrates: 45gProtein: 12gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 13gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 1088mgPotassium: 381mgFiber: 5gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 200IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 191mgIron: 3mg

Nutritional values are estimates only and will vary depending on specific ingredients used. Nutrition is per serving. Information is for the main recipe, not optional accompaniments.

Keywords charred courgette, peanut coconut crumb, summer plant-based meals, tofu medallions, vegan garden dinner
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COPYRIGHT

© The Golden Polar Bear, 2025. Recipes and photography by Julia Savory. If you share this, please pass it along with kindness and if possible share a link back to this site. #ForTheAnimals

Photographed truthfully. If you cook it, yours will look like mine.

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