Calavasa

Says Miriam - “ As I said on air, this is a Spanish/Greek recipe. My great grandparents on my mum's side emigrated from Salonica (nowadays Thessaloniki) in 1913 to London due to rising antisemitism and this is a recipe that came with them. We suspect that it was a recipe that made good use of an abundant seasonal veg. We very proudly make this recipe whenever we can get our hands on a marrow and tend to argue over who gets the last piece.  “

It goes well with a crusty piece of bread to mop up the tomato and is also often very good the (perhaps better) the next day.

Calavasa (fried marrow): Grandma Betty's version

•             Peel a medium sized marrow

•             Remove pips

•             Cut marrow into 5-inch long thin slices (around 3mm)

•             In a bowl, beat up an egg

•             Fill a large frying pan with approximately 2.5cm of oil

•             Heat and when a large drop of egg sizzles in it, dip the slices of marrow in the egg and then into the oil and fry until dark brown in colour. Once slices are cooked, place on kitchen paper

•             Once all the slices are cooked, tip out nearly all of the oil from the frying pan and add two tins of tomatoes and cook on medium heat until soft (approximately 15 mins). and mash with a masher and season with salt and pepper.

•             Then carefully place the slices marrow into the tomato sauce and continue to cook on a low heat for around to half an hour careful not to burn the bottom (may need to add water)