The one thing I have managed to produce a glut of this year was courgettes… and to be very honest it wasn’t actually that much of a glut, except for the fact that I am only one person! My 25 tomato plants have barely a handful of green, underdeveloped tomatoes between them and not a hint of red! However, the courgetts did me proud and menat that I got to experiment with 101 things to do with a courgette. This is one of them!
This was invented to feed myself and my vegetarian sister. She doesn’t have that great a variety in her diet when left to fend for herself so I wanted to pack a good bunch of veggies that she would eat (pickest veggie out there!) into a quick and easy dish. I was very taken with the idea of julienning a courgette and mingling it with spaghetti. You could do away with the spaghetti all together if you wanted to but I though that might be going a little too far for this particular meal and went for 50/50.
The only tricky part is the julienning, which you will want to have a julienne peeler for, and try not to julienne your thumb as I do every time I use mine! (Apparently since I was happy to give my consent to being eaten, any blood that happened to find its way into the dish was ethically fine for the veggie!)
Serves 4
1 onion, finely chopped
2 chicken breasts, in chunks or strips (or Quorn chicken pieces)
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1/2 cup baby broad beans or edamame (frozen or fresh)
2 medium sized courgettes, julienned
2 tbsp lemon juice
300ml creme fraiche
black pepper
1/2 usual serving of cooked spaghetti to serve
– Heat a few tbps of oil in a large frying pan and a pan of salted boiling water for the spaghetti.
– Add the onion and 1/4 tsp salt and cook until just softening.
– Add the chicken and cook until starting to brown.
– Add the garlic and beans half way though cooking the chicken.
– Add the courgettes and cook until soft.
– Get your spaghetti on to cook about now.
– Add the lemon juice and let it bubble away for a minute.
– Add the creme fraiche and a good grinding of black pepper (however is to your taste).
– Simmer for 2-3 minutes then drain and add the cooked spaghetti.
– Stir well to compine and then serve with another good grind of pepper on top.
Anna in the kitchen 