I get asked a lot if at home I’m always cooking nice complicated meals because I do catering for my day to day job. But the truth is that when I get home I just want to have a nice, healthy and comforting meal.
And to me there is nothing more quick and easy to make that one pot recipes, especially if we’re talking one pot pasta recipes, and my Easy One Pot Pasta Courgette recipe is no exemption.
With only a handful of ingredients this recipe quick, healthy, low calorie and delicious. And works perfectly for dinner or lunch.
And if you have friends coming round you can make a big pot for everyone without having to slave in the kitchen for hours.
The concept behind this recipe is to treat it like if was a risotto, only that you’re cooking past instead of rice.
And of course the quality of the pasta is very important, because the more starchier the creamier the dish will come without having to add calorific creams, and who wants a heavy pasta dish anyway?
PRINT THE RECIPE
- 1.5 courgettes zucchini
- 1 medium onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- salt and black pepper
- water
- olive oil
- a handful of washed capers
- 400 gr of good quality pasta
- a pinch of dried chilli or 1 fresh chilli optional
- Parmigiano cheese
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In a food processor or by hand chop the onion, garlic and capers
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In a pan add some oil and is warm add the onion, garlic and caper mix and leave to cook for 3 to 4 minutes
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After that add the grated courgettes with a little bit of water and leave to cook for another 3 to 4 minutes.
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After that add the pasta and a little bit more water. Leave to cook at medium temperature.
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Add the water little by little stirring every time and covering the pot after stirring. Like if you were cooking risotto.
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Just before the pasta is fully cooked season with salt and black pepper to taste. At this point add the dried or fresh chilli.
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Once the pasta is aldente to your taste add a handful of Parmigiano cheese. Remember to leave the pot with a little bit of water as it is this that will create the creaminess with the melted cheese.
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Once the cheese has melted and the pasta has turned creamy, serve immediately with some extra Parmigiano grated on top.
The water quantity will depend of the quality of the pasta, the better the quality the more water will take and the longer will take to cook, but the end result will be more delicious.
Good quality pasta is often starchier than industrially made pasta, and the more starch the pasta has the creamier the dish will come.
And personally in such a simple dish like this one, I believe good quality ingredients are key.
Another good point in favour of this recipe is how inexpensive it is. I reckon that each portions costs less than £1.50. So if you’re on a budget this recipe is up for valley. And not to mentioned how good is it as a family meal.
BEST PASTA SHAPE TO MAKE ONE POT PASTA COURGETTE RECIPE
For this recipe I used penne, only because as you know I’m gluten free and unfortunately gluten free pasta only comes in a limited number of shapes.
But if you can eat wheat I would use penne rigate, rigatoni, orecchiette, trofie and perhaps standard size conchiglie.
I haven’t made this courgette pasta recipe with long shape pasta like spaghetti, for some reason I feel long pasta would not be as suitable as short pasta, but hey, if that’s what you have in the cupboard, then by all means give it a go!
OTHER SERVING OPTIONS
This recipe is totally vegetarian, but I think chicken will go very well with it.
To make it non vegetarian just cut a couple of chicken breast in bite size pieces and brown them in the pot before cooking the onion, garlic and capers.
Once the chicken is cooked remove it from the pot and proceed to make the dish as per the recipe. Add the chicken at the end just before serving, mixing well so the chicken gets all the flavour of the dish and warms up a little bit.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE EASY ONE POT PASTA COURGETTE RECIPE
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Until next time, happy cooking!
