Seasonal local food recipe No.195 – Pasta and zucchini (courgettes) alla carbonara
Another quick, easy vegetarian dish for those of us who don’t feel much like cooking on a hot day. It comes from a delightful Rome-based food blog – Rachel Eats. Make it with some Cornish free-range eggs and the courgettes and basil in Camel CSA’s veg boxes this week.
Rachel says this is “a quiet and familiar lunch” which she makes a lot. If the courgettes have flowers attached, they should be washed, patted dry and torn into strips before cooking.
Serves 2
Preparation/cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
200g good dried spaghetti, linguine or fettucine
2 tbsp olive oil
(optional – 60g pancetta or guanciale, diced)
a small red onion peeled and cut in thin half moons
2 medium courgettes, julienned (cut into matchsticks)
2 large fresh eggs
20g freshly grated parmesan
20g freshly grated pecorino
freshly ground black pepper
a handful of fresh basil leaves
good extra virgin olive oil and more grated parmesan for on top
Method
“While your pasta is cooking you fry your onion until golden brown (if you are using guanciale you fry that first and then add the onion and fry for a couple more minutes.) Then you add the fine strips of courgette (and courgette flowers), stir and allow them to wilt. While the wilting is happening you beat 2 whole eggs with some finely grated parmasan and pecorino and plenty of freshly ground black pepper in a small bowl.
“Now, drain the pasta but save a little of the cooking water, then tip the hot pasta and a small ladleful of the reserved water into the pan with the onion and courgette – toss everything together. Next add the egg mixure to the pan along with the ripped basil leaves, remove the pan from the heat and stir everything together firmly but gently so the sauce thickens.”
