creamy courgette and bacon pasta

[The Mouse]

I 'concocted' this after seeing Jamie Oliver doing something along roughly similar lines. It was an instant hit with the family, and is really simple to make.
The recipe is roughly as follows, but feel free to play with the quantities, especially where the courgettes are concerned.

For 3 - 4 people:
250g streaky bacon or fatty back bacon (can be unsmoked or smoked)
5 medium-sized courgettes
2 cloves garlic (optional)
1 teaspoon of hot chilli powder
200g tub Philadelphia Light cream cheese
Pasta quills - however much your family usally eats!

First dice the bacon into small pieces. Fry in a large frying pan until very crispy.

While it's frying, slice the courgettes into sticks roughly the size of the pasta quills, and crush the garlic.

Start cooking your pasta.

When the bacon is crispy, throw the sliced courgettes, crushed garlic and chilli powder into the pan with it, keeping them moving so they fry in the bacon fat - try to time it so that you start this stage just after you have started to cook the pasta.
Hopefully, the courgettes will be cooked to perfection - just starting to soften - just as the pasta is almost ready.

At this stage, add the tub of Philadelphia to the courgettes along with a couple of tablespoons of the water from the pasta.
Drain the pasta and add that too - mix it all well, test for seasoning, adding pepper to taste, then serve.

Enjoy

[Chantal]

Ooh Caz, that sounds yummy, I know what I'll soon be cooking. Lots of courgettes to get rid of too

[Chantal]

I love this stuff! I have made a slight alteration to the recipe as I was short of Philadelphia so used half cheese and half Elmlea cream. I've also put in rather more courgettes and less pasta, just to get rid of the courgettes!

Yummy recipe, thanks

[The Mouse]

Glad you like it, Chantal.
I sometime put Elmlea in myself, too. It is an incredibly versatile recipe, isn't it? Once the courgettes are over, try using mushrooms instead - that works well. Or even broccoli! Those are the only veg I've tried so far, but I'm sure there are others it would be worth trying too.

[Chantal]

Hi Caz

Leeks also work well with pasta and cream, plus red peppers and yes, mushrooms. I often use variations on this theme, sometimes with diced chicken.

A teaspoon of French mustard and lots of black pepper stirred into the cream also brings out the flavours a treat.

Who needs Jamie Oliver

[The Mouse]

Can any of the vegetarians among you suggest an alternative to the bacon in this recipe, as I would love to be able to offer it to vegetarian friends.

I know that I could just leave out the bacon, but the crispiness and the saltiness of the bacon add a wonderful contrast of taste and texture to this dish, and I would like to be able to replace it with something that would maintain those qualities!

Any suggestions?

[Primrose]

Mouse - I can't think of anything which would adequately substitute for some nice smokey bacon. I believe there are various types of vegetarian sausages available in the supermarkets which might be an alternative if grilled and chopped up but not sure how tasty they would be.

[alan refail]

Quote from bacon.co.uk


The ingredients used in making vegetarian bacon include:

Mycoprotein
Rapeseed oil
Water
Flavouring such as iron oxides, colour, wheat and smoke flavouring
Dried free range egg white
Gelling agents
Locust bean and guar gums
Dextrose
Humectant
Glycerine

No further comment

[The Mouse]

Locust bean and guar gums

I wonder if there should be a comma in there, Alan - 'Locust, ... ! :

[alan refail]

I wonder if there should be a comma in there, Alan - 'Locust, ... ! :

Looocust! Mmmmm crunchy!

[Primrose]

Alan - when you see a list of those ingredients, you quickly realise that being a vegetarian isn't anywhere near as healthy as it's cracked up to be. Frankly I'd settle for the bacon any day, although I'm happy to eat vegetarian food when I know its provenance, i.e. straight from my garden!

[Nature's Babe]

For those who eat no meat, if they eat some fish perhaps anchovies chopped would give the required salt bite, and be an alternative. though not strictly vegetarian. Sounds a tasty recipe.