creamy courgette and bacon pasta
Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:39 pm
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
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