Suppertime: Courgetti spaghetti

Some recipes I blog come from books, others are family favourites that I sort of carry in my head, or have scribbled in notebooks or on random peices of paper. Then there are those that I cook, some regularly with absolutely no memory of where or from who the recipe came from. In those instances I generally credit 'the interwebs' as it's probably a case of someone, somewhere mentioned it, and I've taken it on, adapted it to suit myself and by a process of natural selection it's arrived on the blog.

This is just one of those recipes. Well I say recipe, as you'll see, that's a decidedly loose term when it comes to this meal. This year I'm not going to be growing any veg, as I don't have a garden - I am already growing herbs in a proliferation of pots outside my front door; thyme, rosemary, tarragon and flat leaf parsley are doing beautifully. Although I could probably rearrange things into bigger pots and grow courgettes, tomatoes and other veg that's happy to be pot bound, this year with my health and moving and all it would have been just too much. So for now, we'll look forward to that next year and until then, pinch Mark's potatoes and corn. However, this recipe is great when you have a glut of courgettes to use up.

Courgetti spaghetti (provenance unknown)

4 medium courgettes, grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped finely
1 red chilli, chopped finely
Large handful of pine nuts, toasted
100g parmesan, grated (plus extra to serve)
Pasta, I use wholewheat spaghetti -- but that's purely a personal choice
Salt and Pepper

Put the water for your pasta on to boil. The quantities I've given above would serve about 4 depending on appetities.
Meanwhile grate your courgettes, I do this in the food processor, mainly because I'm lazy but also because it contains the mess. Then tip them ou tonto a clean tea towel and squeeze out the water.
Toast the pine nuts in a dry, non stick pan - keep an eye on them, I swear they wait until you turn around to burn. When they're golden brown tip them out into a spare bowl or plate
Pour a couple of big glugs of olive oil into a nice big pan, add the garlic and chilli
When they start to sizzle, add the courgettes and stir around for a few minutes until they start to brown
Add the pine nuts back in and the parmesan (reserve a little to scatter on top as you serve up)
Season with lots of black pepper and a bit of salt as parmesan is already quite salty
As the cheese starts to melt, either turn the heat down and wait for your pasta to finish cooking or if your pasta is cooked and drained (save a ladleful or so of the cooking water) add this into the pan you're cooking the sauce in
Stir everything around so that the courgettes and pasta are all mixed up together, serve in bowls, with salad if you want with extra parmesan on top.

All of this is to taste, if you want more heat or garlic, add more, similarly if you want more crunch, add more pine nuts. I've substituted the parmesan for mozzarella and instead of cooking it into the sauce, added it right at the end, for an even more summery dish - I suspect I also added cherry tomatoes that time.

This freezes well, I do it in portion sized tupperware so I can get it out of the freezer in the morning, and add it to hot pasta of an evening, making a quick and tasty tea.