Over the decades I’ve toyed with various iterations of my Go To comfort food. I find this 50/50 spaghetti – courgette split not only fills me up, it adds a clean crunchiness to the sometimes heavy pasta only version. For the record, a 70-80g pasta portion (as Italians take it, I’m told) appears to have none of the usual bloat infamy I’m prone to. If still unconvinced, though, there’s zero taste compromise with 100% courgetti; I do both. Left-overs as a salad the next day are also delicious.
Feeds 2
INGREDIENTS
1 courgette, grated or spiralled
140g spaghetti
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp sun dried tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 dsp tamarind paste – I like the big tubs from Indian supermarkets
1 tsp dried crushed chillies
Feta, cheddar cheese or parmesan to taste.
Optional:
1 dsp sun dried tomato paste (or bought) – I do without if I don’t have in the fridge.
1/2 tsp turmeric – I add where I can due to its incredible health benefits.
METHOD
Prep the ingredients. Grate the courgette and cheese; chop the garlic and sun dried tomatoes.
Set the frying pan over a medium to low heat and add the oil. Put the spaghetti to boil – not the courgette!
Add the remaining ingredients (apart from the cheese) to the frying pan in the order listed above, cooking gently until they warm through and the garlic turns translucent. Be very careful not to burn the garlic or pesto (if using) here.
Remove from the heat and fold in the pasta, courgetti and half of the cheese. Transfer to heated bowls or plates and top with the rest of the cheese.
For me, this is comfort food absolute, hot or cold.
