Oven-baked spiced courgettes with onion crumble

Trim the ends of the courgettes without peeling and cut into long strips of even size.

In a bowl mix the diced onion, crushed garlic, paprika, cumin, a touch of salt, pepper, about 3 tablespoons olive oil and 3 to 4 tablespoons water; rest about 3 minutes.

In a baking dish, pour the mixture over the courgettes and massage with clean hands to coat; leave to macerate.

Preheat the oven to 200C (about 400F).

Spread the courgettes on the oven tray with space between so they do not stew, and spoon over some of the onion juices, keeping some back for basting.

Cover loosely with parchment and bake about 15 minutes to start the cooking by steaming.

Uncover, add more oil if needed and bake on so the onions brown and semi-caramelise; 25 minutes in all here, until soft and a little burnt at the edges.

Crumble: pan fry the onion bits from the baking dish with breadcrumbs over medium-high heat until crisp like croutons.

Plate the courgettes with fresh lemon, roughly chopped parsley or coriander, and the onion crumble.