What to Cook: Courgette Pasta with Prawns

Jacqueline Alwill’s Courgette?Pasta with Prawns, Chilli and Lemon

Courgette pasta has become one of the best alternatives to wheat-based pasta due to the neutral flavour of the courgettes and its ability to hold its shape and soak up delicious flavours. There are plenty of tools around to make these, but you don’t need fancy equipment or skill of any sort to get started. Simply use a vegetable peeler to make long, thin strips, then either keep them wide or stack them and cut lengthways into thinner strips.

Serves 2

Ingredients
2 large courgettes
3 tbsp olive oil
6 raw king prawns, peeled and deveined (tails left on)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp finely chopped red bird’s eye chilli (seeds removed if you don’t want the pasta too spicy)
2 tbsp lemon juice
a small handful of rocket leaves
60g freshly grated parmesan (optional)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
To make the pasta, either use a spiraliser or follow the instructions in the introduction above. I prefer my noodles slightly thinner as I find they catch the flavours a bit better, but go with what you feel most comfortable with to start and progress to thinner noodles as your confidence improves. If you want to make these earlier in the day, they’ll keep well in the fridge until you’re ready to cook them.

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Cook the noodles for 1 minute then remove from the pan and drain well.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Then add the prawns, garlic, lemon zest and chilli and cook, keeping everything moving around the pan, until the prawns just start to change colour. Add the drained noodles and toss well to combine. Gently stir through the lemon juice, rocket, grated parmesan (if using), and a good pinch of salt and pepper, then serve immediately.

Extracted from Seasons to Share by Jacqueline Alwill (Murdoch Books, approx €24), out now. Photography by Jason Loucas.