Cooked cucumber sounds odd until you try it, peeled and seeded, chunked or sliced and held in a creamy sauce to serve with fish. It’s lovely too in gratins with chicken, its mild but pervasive flavour bolstered by fresh dill and uplifted by lemon. For the topping I used finely grated emmental with fresh breadcrumbs.
Serves 2
Prep 15 min
Cook 40 min
Ingredients
Method
Use a potato peeler to peel the cucumber. Halve lengthways and use a teaspoon to scrape out the seeds, then dice. Half fill a medium pan with boiling water. Add a pinch of salt and the cucumber. Boil for 2 min, drain, reserving 150ml water. Melt the butter in the cucumber pan, stir in the flour until disappeared then whisk in the cucumber water followed by the milk. Whisk or beat for a few minutes until thick, smooth and the flour is cooked. Season with salt and lemon juice. Add cucumber and chopped dill. Remove from the heat.
Tear the chicken into bite-sized pieces and fold into the sauce. Smooth into a 5cm deep gratin dish. Cool. Mix cheese and crumbs, then scatter over the top. Bake now or later at 200C/gas 6 for 30 min or until very crusty and sauce is bubbling round the edges.