How to cook Marrow

• • A member of the squash family, the marrow is a distinctive looking vegetable.

  • Its edible shiny skin can be any shade of green and its flesh is tender with a subtle flavour.

  • When buying marrow choose the smallest one that you can.

  • Over-sized marrows tend to have watery, bitter-tasting flesh.

  • It should be firm and heavy for its size.

How To Use Marrow

• • Marrow is always served cooked.

  • It can be baked in halves with the centre scooped out and stuffed with a filling such as sausage-meat and tomato or Bolognese sauce.

  • It can be sliced into rounds and topped with cheese and baked.

  • Or it can be cooked with onions, peppers and tomatoes to make a version of ratatouille.

  • Serve steamed or fried marrow as a side dish to accompany chicken or fish dishes.

  • Marrow can also be combined with ginger to make jam or included in the mixed summer vegetable preserve, piccalilli.

  • Herbs and spices that go particularly well with marrow include sage, thyme, chilli and cumin.

How To Prepare Marrow

• • Top and tail the marrow and slice or cut into chunks as desired and remove the seeds.

How To Cook Marrow

• • Marrow can be baked, steamed or sautéed.

Baking the marrow

• • To bake, preheat the oven to 190°C, gas mark 5, place the halved, stuffed marrow or marrow rings with topping in a roasting tin and cook for 35 - 55 minutes or until tender.

Steaming the marrow

• • To steam, place prepared marrow chunks in a steamer and cook for 10 - 15 minutes or until tender.

Sautéing the marrow

• • To sauté, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan and cook the prepared marrow chunks for 5 -10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender.

How To Store Marrow

• • Keep refrigerated after purchase.