I’m not sure exactly what I was thinking when I came up with this recipe for courgette and carrot pasta, but despite all the misgivings I had while making it, it turned out rather well, if I do say so myself! Well, I thought so at any rate. DH thought it was, “nice, but not amazing,” apparently. Hey ho. Meanwhile Kipper was busy enjoying herself trying to stuff the courgette sauce inside her penne. Hmmm. Once stuffed, she did eat quite a lot of them.
Grating the vegetables gave this sauce a completely different texture than usual – chunky and interesting. It also made it very pretty, somehow – green and white courgette flecked with orange carrot. I did the grating on a regular grater, but if I make this again I’ll use the food processor. It doesn’t look like a lot of courgettes and carrots until you start grating. Maybe I’m just lazy, but it seemed to take forever (must have been at least 3 minutes!). I used small sweet carrots which gave a delicious flavour and also I think cook more quickly than thicker, older carrots.
Also, I must admit, I’m not a huge fan of brandy in cooking. Flambeing things always strikes me as poncey and unnecessary, and I’m not always convinced that there’s much to be gained in the way of flavour. And yet… I was about to add white wine to this recipe, but something told me it needed a bit more oomph. With trepidation, I went for the brandy. And I’m glad I did. The flavour is quite subtle, but enhances the sweet spring vegetables. A little salt and pepper, and a touch of chopped parsley, is all the seasoning that’s required.
This made a very generous 3 servings, and would easily do for four people.
Penne pasta with carrots, courgettes, brandy and cream.
- 150g small sweet carrots
- 2 medium courgettes
- 45g butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 0.5 tsp ground black pepper
- pinch salt
- 2 tbsp brandy
- 35g grated parmesan
- 3 tbsp cream
- 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
- Pasta, to serve
- Cook the pasta according to the directions on the packet.
- Peel the carrots. Wash and trim the courgettes. Coarsely grate the carrots and courgettes into a large bowl.
- Melt the butter and oil in a large skillet over a medium heat. Add the grated vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally, for around 5 minutes, until the liquid is driven off and the vegetables are softening. Add the black pepper, salt and brandy, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Reduce the heat under the pan, and stir in the parmesan, cream and parsley. Mix well.
- Drain the pasta and toss with the vegetable sauce. Serve hot.
