I used to loathe courgettes, or zucchini, as it's smart to call them these days, but I've learnt how to cope with their mild flavour and tender flesh since I misguidedly sowed eight plants in our new allotment.

My first success was soup (900g of courgettes, grated, stirred into buttery softened onion, a diced potato, simmered for five minutes with 1.5 litres of stock then liquidised with 25g mint and another of flat leaf parsley), tapping into their love of mint.

They are easy to griddle well and suit being cut into thick, long slices, and given a quick blast of heat, just enough to burnish the surface. I particularly like them piled with a crumble of feta and thyme, then given a generous splash of lemon juice and olive oil, and they make a delicious, gently flavoured base for lemon-grilled plaice.

The secret, I reckon, is minimal cooking, preferably not in water, and disgorging them with salt before starting any recipe, although griddling is the exception. Try them sliced in gratins with tomatoes or an eggy, cheesy sauce, or grated in pancakes with Parmesan, in a mixture thick enough to take a dusting of polenta, so they cook to a crisp.

They are particularly good, though, in individual filo pastry pies, Greek-style with feta cheese, egg and mint. They end up like a golden pillow, puffed and swollen with a gorgeously moist and creamy filling. I like them with a tomato relish made with balsamic vinegar cooked with shallots and masses of coriander.

The traditional solution to a courgette glut is in chutney and pickles and I've already run out of jam jars, although I shall have to scrounge more for jam flavoured with stem ginger.

My latest discovery is raw courgette, grated and salted, mixed with chilli and herbs, then packed into ramekins to turn out later and serve with a pretty salad of broad beans and watercress, or with a gooey stew of tomato and roasted red pepper.

Even if you aren't struggling to keep up with your own plants, courgettes are at the peak of their season and definitely worth learning to love.

Explore Food & Drink

• Gordon Ramsay

• Heston Blumenthal

• Recipes

• Wine

• Real Food

• Anjum Anand

• Eating Out

• Video Recipes

Times Recommends

• How to season a wok
• Chicago Rib Shack hits back at its critics
• Gordon Ramsay: Indian barbecue