Courgette Tagliatelle
Courgettes are a staple of our Summertime kitchen, but they are prolific and therefore one of the most popular vegetables to grow. One plant alone will provide you with a succession of courgette from mid-summer through into early autumn. New varieties of slightly sweeter and firmer yellow courgettes are my favourite and work really well with this recipe. Admittedly courgettes are not always the easiest vegetables to pass under the radar of what my family will eat for dinner. Braising courgette draws out their water content and with time and care they will yield into a meltingly delicious sauce for pasta.
The key to this dish is a adding a generous amount of olive oil and cooking the courgettes slowly until they are completely tender and meltingly delicious. Also, cutting the courgette to compliment the shape of the pasta is a small concession to create a better dish. With tagliatelle cut the courgette into long thin strips, conversely for penne half-moon discs work well.
ingredients
extra virgin olive oil
2 courgettes* (250g approx.), thinly sliced
*yellow, or green varities, or both
3 garlic gloves, thinly sliced
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
½ -1 lemon, juice only
10 fresh mint leaves, finely diced
250g fresh tagliatelle
Parmesan, to serve
method
Take a non-stick frying pan and add a generous amount of olive oil (4-5 tablespoons), add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes. Next add the finely sliced courgette and season with sea salt. Braise the garlic and courgette in the olive oil over a low-medium heat, you want the courgette to be completely cooked and soft this should take around 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent the courgette catching, you can add more olive oil if needed, or a splash of water (there is a balance as you don’t want the final dish to be too oily).
When the courgette are cooked it’s time to cook the pasta, follow the instructions of the pasta you are cooking. For fresh tagliatelle this is 2-3 minutes. Once al dente transfer the pasta into the pan with the cooked courgette, with a little of the pasta water, gently stir to bring the ingredients together. Once combined remove from the heat.
To finish add freshly ground black pepper, lemon juice, fresh mint and give a final stir. Plate the tagliatelle and grate over a little Parmesan to finish.