Courgettes

Uurgh, I hate courgettes, Mum. Oh no, not courgettes again... why do we ALWAYS have to have courgettes?

Because I like 'em, that's why - and because we grew a lot in the garden last year, so for a while we did have courgettes coming out of our ears. Courgette risotto, grilled courgettes, fried courgettes, courgette-heavy ratatouille - you name it, we had courgettes in it. Useful gardening tip - yellow courgettes are so much easier to see on the plant than green ones, so you can pick 'em when they're a suitable size and you don't end up with inadvertent marrows.

You will need:

Courgettes (about one per person, depending on size*)
A pan with a well-fitting lid
butter
salt
black pepper (or black cumin)

*size of courgette, or size of person...

Cut the ends off the courgette and slice into about 6mm slices. (If they're big, cut the slices into 2 so that they're semicircles, otherwise keep them as circles.)
Put the pan on to heat and put about 10g of butter in it. Let it sizzle, and add 1/4 teasp salt and a generous amount of black pepper. Or, if you prefer, 1/2 teasp of black cumin seeds, which I think go brilliantly with courgettes, but my younger son begs to differ. However, he loves them with black pepper.
Add the sliced courgettes, put the lid on the pan, and shake to coat in the butter. Keep the heat fairly high, and give the pan a shake every minute or so. If a lot of liquid collects in the bottom of the pan, remove the lid and let it evaporate. After 5 mins or so, reduce the heat. They'll be ready in about 5 more minutes.