I really felt for Kathy Slack when I read about her tomato disaster, her lovingly nurtured seedlings run over and crushed by a Range Rover in a Cotswold lane. It wasn’t entirely the driver’s fault but anyone who grows their own will feel Kathy’s pain.

It’s one of the anecdotes in her new book, From The Veg Patch, published by Ebury Press. Full disclosure: Kathy is a friend and Guild of Food Writers colleague, but I wouldn’t be writing about the book if I didn’t rate it highly. She takes ten vegetables or fruits and gives ten recipes for each, along with bonus cooking ideas and growing tips. (Getting your seedlings run over is more of a cautionary tale.)

This is a lovely book for anyone who enjoys veg, whether you grow them yourself or buy them in arm-wrenching bag-fulls from the farmer’s market. It’s not a snobby book – you don’t need a posh potager to be able to cook from it and indeed there are recipes where Kathy advocates using frozen veg rather than fresh. It’s not specifically vegetarian or vegan either, although these are catered for. Meat and fish feature but never at the expense of the vegetables, which always take centre stage. With today’s emphasis on eating less but more ethically sourced meat and fish, I’d say it’s a book for our times.

The recipes are fresh and interesting and very accessible, whatever your level of cooking skills. My copy (bought retail) is sprouting a thicket of bookmarks and I’ll be revisiting its pages regularly as summer progresses into autumn and our harvests ripen. It’s going to be a boon when we have a glut.  At the moment, though, we mostly have a scattering of salad crops and, inevitably, courgettes.

I’m always eager to find recipes that will convince my courgette-sceptic husband to overcome his reluctance and this one, for griddled courgettes rolled with pesto, prosciutto and mozzarella, didn’t disappoint. I used yellow as well as green which, rolled up with their toothpick wings, remind me of the Golden Snitch.

I used last year’s pesto from the freezer as my basil isn’t prolific enough yet. And though Kathy suggests buffalo mozzarella, I’d just say make sure it’s a firm one, as mine was almost too soft to cut into batons. I’ve given the recipe, used here with permission, as it appears in the book.

Kathy says:

“These are terrific on the barbecue, in which case go for medium embers and a direct heat. Alternatively a griddle pan on full heat will do just fine. You can make this into a main course by arranging the finished rolls (without cocktail sticks) in an ovenproof dish, covering them with a tin of chopped tomatoes, sprinkling a handful of grated Parmesan or torn mozzarella on top, and baking for 20-30 minutes at 220C/200C fan/Gas Mark 7.”