A couple of years ago, my sister did a stint in Italy teaching English. She stayed with a host family, and ate some absolutely bloody fantastic food by all accounts. In particular, she described courgette pasta with flowers and some kind of cheese which apparently was delightful. So ever since I've started to grow my own, I've wanted to replicate the mystery dish...and the other night, I cracked it.
Courgettes sliced wafer thin and cooked with a tiny bit of garlic for barely a minute, their flowers stuffed with homemade herb and lemon ricotta - it's an impressive dish and something I think you could serve up proudly at a dinner party. It's actually incredibly easy to make once you've finished with all the faffing. And yum yum yummy.
PS I urge you to try the homemade ricotta if you haven't before - so easy!
Enough for two
For the ricotta:
About a pint of whole milk
About a teaspoon of salt
A couple of tablespoons of lemon juice
Then a variety of herbs: basil, mint, oregano and flat leaf parsely, and some lemon zest
Courgettes - baby ones are best, nice to have a variety of colours. 3-4, plus some flowers if you can get them (bitter pollen cut out)
A clove of garlic
120g pasta - we used twists but penne or little ears could be good
Plenty of olive oil, salt and pepper
First make the ricotta. Line a colander with a piece of muslin or cheesecloth. Put the milk in a saucepan and add the salt. Slowly bring to boiling (but don't let it bubble over!) then remove from the heat. Add the lemon juice and stir. It'll curdle to separate the curds and whey - tip it into the prepared colander and let it drain for a good 20 mins, until it's the consistency you want - creamy and soft but not too hard or too liquidy. Once it's drained and cooked, mix with the chopped herbs and lemon zest. Add some pepper and a bit of chilli oil to taste.
Prepare the courgettes - slice them super thin (a peeler works really well for this). Slice the garlic really thinly too. Stuff the prepared flowers with the ricotta, and gently close the petals up.
Boil a pan of water and pop your pasta on. When it's got 3-5 mins to go, heat a frying pan to a fairly high heat and add some olive oil. Fry the stuffed flowers gently, turning a couple of times, and remove them. Then add a little more oil and pop in the sliced courgettes and garlic.
Once the pasta's done, drain and add to the pan with the cooking courgettes. Toss well to make sure it's coated in olive oil. Season, then divide between bowls, nestling the flowers amongst the pasta. Crumble over any leftover herb ricotta and serve.
Courgettes sliced wafer thin and cooked with a tiny bit of garlic for barely a minute, their flowers stuffed with homemade herb and lemon ricotta - it's an impressive dish and something I think you could serve up proudly at a dinner party. It's actually incredibly easy to make once you've finished with all the faffing. And yum yum yummy.
PS I urge you to try the homemade ricotta if you haven't before - so easy!
Enough for two
For the ricotta:
About a pint of whole milk
About a teaspoon of salt
A couple of tablespoons of lemon juice
Then a variety of herbs: basil, mint, oregano and flat leaf parsely, and some lemon zest
Courgettes - baby ones are best, nice to have a variety of colours. 3-4, plus some flowers if you can get them (bitter pollen cut out)
A clove of garlic
120g pasta - we used twists but penne or little ears could be good
Plenty of olive oil, salt and pepper
First make the ricotta. Line a colander with a piece of muslin or cheesecloth. Put the milk in a saucepan and add the salt. Slowly bring to boiling (but don't let it bubble over!) then remove from the heat. Add the lemon juice and stir. It'll curdle to separate the curds and whey - tip it into the prepared colander and let it drain for a good 20 mins, until it's the consistency you want - creamy and soft but not too hard or too liquidy. Once it's drained and cooked, mix with the chopped herbs and lemon zest. Add some pepper and a bit of chilli oil to taste.
Prepare the courgettes - slice them super thin (a peeler works really well for this). Slice the garlic really thinly too. Stuff the prepared flowers with the ricotta, and gently close the petals up.
Boil a pan of water and pop your pasta on. When it's got 3-5 mins to go, heat a frying pan to a fairly high heat and add some olive oil. Fry the stuffed flowers gently, turning a couple of times, and remove them. Then add a little more oil and pop in the sliced courgettes and garlic.
Once the pasta's done, drain and add to the pan with the cooking courgettes. Toss well to make sure it's coated in olive oil. Season, then divide between bowls, nestling the flowers amongst the pasta. Crumble over any leftover herb ricotta and serve.
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