Courgettes, garlic and chilli
One of the things I love most about cooking is when you find a combination of ingredients you can throw together and an amazing new dimension of flavour pops out, as if by magic.
This trio doesn’t sound particularly mind-blowing… on paper. But something about them just clicks. I was following a recipe by the late, great Antonio Carluccio and realised the whole flavour profile of the dish sits on this simple combination of courgettes, garlic and chillies.
My go-to is to toss the cooked mixture through some rigatoni (with plenty of the starchy pasta water), as the Italian legend's recipe suggests, but we often heap it into jacket potatoes to jazz them up. It even makes for a great toastie! Do with it whatever you please…
Serves: 2 hungry adults
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Ingredients
2 courgettes (grated)
2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
2 red chillies (finely chopped)
40g parmigiano regiano (grated)
6 tbsp olive oil
Method
Grate the courgettes with a box grater.
Put a large, heavy-based pan over a medium heat and pour in the olive oil.
Add the garlic and chillies - holding back a pinch of the chillies for garnishing later - and sizzle for one minute, until softened but not quite coloured. Add the courgettes and continue to cook 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly, until they start to soften.
Scatter the parmesan evenly over the courgettes before turning the heat off and mixing everything to combine. Season to taste with salt a freshly ground black pepper.
To serve with pasta, reserve some of the cooking water before draining. Add the pasta to the pan of courgettes and give it a good old stir while adding a splash of the cooking water at a time until you have saucey consistency.
Plate up and top with the reserved fresh chillies and some more parmesan.
TIPS
Make it vegan by swapping the cheese for some nutritional yeast to taste.
Dial the chilli right down and it's great for kids’ meals.. pasta, rice, potatoes, on toast, etc.