Spaghetti alla puttanesca - including how to hide your courgette and tomato glut

What glut?

Admit it, you've been growing veg in your garden due to lockdown, hoping that if there was a longer lockdown that you could provide for the family with lots of fresh vegetables. Preserve and freeze any excess, to enjoy through the autumn and winter.

Perhaps you put a couple of courgettes in your garden or in large pots, you may also have planted a few tomatoes too.

These are now beginning to ripen and you may be getting to the point where you need to start hiding the veg in dishes or you get the comment, "not again" when you serve a meal.

We put in 6 courgette plants, each a different variety and have at least 12 tomato plants in a very tiny back garden and they have turned into triffids or even into "Audrey II" from Little Shop of Horrors. The tomatoes are now above the 8-foot poles we put in (7 foot once in the ground). They are heaving with fruit and just starting to ripen.

I'm still needing organic box deliveries, and try as I might to not pick a box with courgettes in it, inevitably the box contents change just after cut-off, so I'm having to get creative.

My daughter and I take it in turns to cook lunch and are normally based around gluten-free pasta, Barilla pasta is great, so is Waitrose, M&S, Sainsbury's. It was my turn today, my daughter's currently working on a sewing project so she's working upstairs. I wait to see if I get a message on my phone whilst cooking with a guess as to what I'm cooking, she is an expert of predicting what I'm cooking from the aromas wafting up the stairs. Today, she was spot on.

Spaghetti alla puttanesca

This is also known as "slut's pasta" there are different variations, this is my "go-to" recipe for a quick lunch and I've always got the ingredients in the store cupboard or fridge.
To understand the history of the dish and why it's got the slang name, Wikipedia explains it's evolution and differences depending on the region.

I put the pan on, ready to cook the pasta, tipped out the rest of the packet of spaghetti into the pan, without properly checking the quantity of pasta. I then discovered that it was not enough for 2, so that's when I decided to add some finely cut courgettes at the end to bulk it out. I couldn't be bothered to get out my spiralizer, so I cut into fine julienne by hand, courgettes cut in this way are known as courgetti.

You can add the courgettes if you have them, but that is extra to either extend the pasta, add extra veg or hide some courgettes and tomatoes.

Ingredients (serves 2)

large pan boiling water
salt
spaghetti for 2

For sauce:

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 small tin anchovies, drained
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
2 large tomatoes, diced
2 tbsps capers
3 tbsps black pitted olives, sliced across into 3
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsps chopped fresh parsley

1 courgette cut into narrow strips or spiralize it. (Courgetti)

Method

Bring the pan of water to a boil and add the salt, when at a rolling boil, add the spaghetti, stirring to make sure the spaghetti is properly dispersed in the pan.

Put a wide saute pan or frying pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and add the anchovies, crush them with the back of a wooden spoon as they heat and they will melt into the oil. Add the garlic and chilli flakes and fry for one minute. Add the chopped tomatoes and the olives and capers and gently fry until the tomato starts to collapse, season with black pepper. This is now ready, turn off heat until pasta is cooked.

Drain pasta keeping some of the water. Turn back on the heat under the sauce, add the pasta and courgetti (if you are using this) to the sauce and toss well, add a splash of the cooking water to the pan to loosen the sauce, sprinkle over the parsley. Toss together for another minute, the courgetti should have started to wilt slightly, it is now ready to serve.

Enjoy

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Courgette, Caper and Chilli Pasta

When we need a quick lunch, pasta is always our "go to". It was time to raid the fridge for veggie, then time for me to get creative.

Ingredients (serves 2)

1/2 pack of gluten free macaroni

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, sliced

1 courgette, cut lengthwise in half, then each piece again lengthwise. Chop across into 1 cm chunks

1 clove garlic finely chopped

2 large tomatoes roughly chopped

2 tsp capers

2 pinches ancho chilli flakes

Zest 1/2 lemon

Water

4 stems fresh basil

Salt and pepper

Method

Put a large pot of water onto boil and add salt. Add pasta when boiling and cook according to the packet. Make the sauce whilst the pasta is cooking.

In a sauté pan over a medium heat, fry the onion until soft, add the courgette and garlic, fry for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chopped tomatoes, capers, lemon zest and chilli flakes, stir and lower heat to a simmer, stir occasionally. Remove the leaves from the basil, chop the stems and add the stems to the sauté pan and stir. Season with salt and pepper. You can add a splash of water if needed, if the pan seems dry.

Carefully cut the basil leaves into a rough large chop, add to the sauce, stir and turn off heat.

Check pasta is cooked, drain, reserving some of the cooking liquor. Add the pasta to the sauce and stir the pasta into the sauce, turn back on heat to allow the pasta to absorb the flavours, add a little of the cooking liquor to help the sauce get absorbed into the pasta.

Serve with a sprig of basil.

You can also sprinkle over some fresh Parmesan to serve. I also added a couple of drops of chilli oil over mine as I like the heat.

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Savoury vegetarian rice with butternut squash and cauliflower

With so much meat and dairy over the Christmas break, today was an opportunity to create a vegetarian rice based lunch. I peeled and diced a butternut squash yesterday and popped it in the fridge, ready to use, so was originally going to make butternut squash risotto, but discovered that I only had a small amount of risotto rice, so change of plans.
I decided to use a variety of different veg, using a rainbow of colour, it was a success so I thought I'd add it to my blog. This recipe is vegan.

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 large handfuls, butternut squash, diced
1 large handful of cauliflower florets, break into small florets 1cm cubed
1/2 courgette diced
100g mushrooms, sliced
1 large tomato,  chopped

1/2 mug long grain rice
1 Knorr vegetable stock pot
1 pint boiling water
1 tbsp tamari soy sauce
1 large handful of raw cashews, toasted in a small pan.
1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

Method

In a large frying pan, over medium heat add the oil, the onion, squash and cauliflower, fry until the cauliflower starts to toast at the edges, keep stirring regularly. Add the courgette and mushrooms, continue frying until the mushrooms have softened. Add the rice, gently cook for another minute, stirring continuously. Add the stockpot, boiling water, tamari and tomato. Bring to the boil and simmer gently, stirring occasionally.
In a small pan, toast the raw cashews, you can add 1 tsp oil to help them turn golden brown. You must keep stirring as they toast as they do catch if you aren't careful. Remove from the pan onto kitchen paper. Add them to the rice while cooking and stir thoroughly.
After 15 minutes, check to see if the rice is cooked, it should be just cooked through. You may need to add more boiling water during the cooking if the rice looks like it is going to dry out.
When cooked, sprinkle over the fresh parsley and serve.

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Chicken lasagne

If you are gluten free and don't eat red meat, it's difficult to find a lasagne that you can eat. We also eat lots of veg, so I decided it was time to get a decent lasagne dish, some gluten free lasagne sheets and bone and skinless chicken thighs. I made a large lasagne as the spare portions can either be frozen or taken to work for lunch.
This uses my "all-in-one" sauce method, so you will need a balloon whisk for this.
Ingredients (serves 6)
For the bolognese
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pack chicken thighs, skinless and boneless - minced in a food processor
1 carrot, finely chopped
1/4 nutmeg, freshly grated
1/4 pint milk
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 beef stock pot (trust me, it improves the flavour)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1/2 tin water
Salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 large chestnut mushrooms, halved and finely sliced.
For the white sauce
1 oz lacto free butter
1 oz plain gluten free flour
1 pint lacto free milk
Salt and pepper
Additional ingredients
12 sheets gluten free lasagne
1 tsp salt
1 large courgette, finely sliced lengthways
1/2 bag baby spinach leaves  (washed)
1 oz freshly grated parmesan

Method 
Bolognese
In a large pan, sauté the onion and celery in the olive oil over a gentle heat until the onion is translucent. Increase the heat and add the minced chicken, fry until all chicken has gone white, stir regularly. Add the carrots, nutmeg, milk and salt and pepper, cook for 1 minute,  then add the tomato puree, continue cooking until the liquid has evaporated.  Add the stockpot, oregano, tomatoes and the water, stir well, bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Sauce
Take one medium pan and put all the sauce ingredients in the pan together. Put the pan over a gently heat and then keep stirring using a balloon whisk until the sauce is smooth and has thickened. Season to taste.
Pasta (only if using gluten free lasagne sheets).
Fill a large pan with water, bring to the boil and add the salt. Pop in the lasagne sheets and cook until al-dente. (I've tried using the sheets without pre-cooking and it doesn't work for the gluten free as well). If using normal quick cook lasagne sheets, you can omit this stage.
Build the lasagne
Take a lasagne dish and rub a little olive oil over the surface to prevent sticking.
Take a couple of large spoonfuls of the mince and spread them over the bottom of the dish, then drizzle over some of the white sauce, then a layer of lasagne sheets, next a layer of mince, then a handful of spinach, followed by a layer of courgette, plus another drizzle of white sauce.
Keep building the layers. You want to end with some mince and white sauce over the final layer of pasta. If you think you are running out of the white sauce, you can always add some more milk and thin it down towards the end.
Sprinkle over the parmesan cheese and then pop into a moderately hot oven Gas 5 (Electric 190C) for 40 minutes. It should be bubbly and golden on the top.
Serve with salad.

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Pasta with tomato, courgettes and tuna sauce.

Lunchtime Dilemma

Using leftovers!
What did I have left, 1/3rd tin tuna (well I did leave for daughter yesterday, but she didn't get back until tea time), also had a box of cooked pasta left from yesterday?
I didn't want to waste this and came up with the following dish and whilst it was cooking, I could nip outside into the garden to grab the fresh flat leaved parsley.

Pasta with tomato, courgettes and tuna sauce

Ingredients (serves 3)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 courgette, cut lengthways into quarters, then chopped along the length
1 tin tomatoes
1 tablespoon capers
1 tablespoon fresh parsley finely chopped
1/3 tin tuna

Method

You need to cook the pasta if you haven't got any ready to reheat.
In a small pan, heat the oil gently and fry the onion until soft, add the garlic and courgette, fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the tinned tomatoes and break them up with a spoon as you cook (I prefer tinned tomatoes as they don't have as much water). Add the capers and parsley. Cook for 5 minutes. Just before serving carefully add the tuna, but try not to mask it, a couple of stirs will do. If using precooked pasta, add it to the sauce and heat through. If fresh cooked pasta drain and toss through sauce.
Serve

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Courgette fritters

Just had to dream up something for daughter's breakfast and then I remembered a conversation we had on Friday evening about the vegetables she would like to grow in the garden this year. She remembered picking one of her courgettes and then having courgette fritters last year for breakfast. Then I realised that courgettes had arrived this week in my organic box.

Courgette Fritters

1 courgette - grated on large holes
1 egg
self raising flour
salt and pepper

Grate the courgette and put in a bowl, season with salt and pepper add the egg straight into the bowl with the courgette, mix well then add enough self-raising flour to make a dropable batter.
Heat some sunflower oil in a frying pan, spoon in tablespoons of the batter then shallow fry until golden brown, turn and fry the other side.
Serve with some tomato ketchup.

If you want to add some additional flavour, I've added some chopped spring onions, chopped chilli. Also 25g grated cheddar cheese changes it up too.

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