Day 118: sweetly-braised khaki summeriness

I'm doing it again: another short post. I have a day of shopping, lunch out, a few drinks, and a chilled evening planned ahead of me. I’m also out tomorrow so I don’t want to wait until Monday to post this. I will also be making Nigella’s Marsala Honey Pears with Gorgonzola at some point, too, which I am beyond excited for.

Yesterday, however, it was Nigella’s Pasta with Courgettes; an unplanned addition to the line-up resulting from buying a bag of green courgettes, before realising I couldn't source the yellow variety (both of which are needed for Nigella’s Double Courgette and Bean Salad).

Nigella’s Pasta with Courgettes

I thought it was about time I used an edible souvenir that some friends brought us back from Puglia; a Maritati pasta blend, consisting of orecchiette and minchiareddi. I’m ashamed to admit that it has been sitting on the shelf for about two years. Having used ‘old’ pasta and rice before I am fairly certain that it takes a lot longer to cook; the outside becomes soft and almost falls apart, whilst the inside remains not even al dente. Nevertheless, it may have been extremely overcooked, but it soaked up and clung to the courgette sauce like it was going out of fashion; the small cubes of vermouthy, cheesy courgette nestling cutely in the indentations of the orecchiette.

Some people find courgettes to lack flavour, but I love their summery freshness and wonderful texture. I became particularly fond of them on a trip to San Antonio a couple of years ago (our last trip before the pandemic actually). The hotel we were staying in served them sauteed with summer squash/yellow courgette for breakfast. From what I could tell, they were lightly fried in a very small amount of oil with oregano and salt and pepper, and then left to steam (perhaps adding a little water, too). Something I occasionally recreate at home but have yet to emulate it with full satisfaction.

Flavour musings

A mild drama with the pasta, and a little tricky to shoot, but what a pleasure and comforting joy to eat. That summery, sweetly-braised, buttery, khaki green sauce is just divine - and I reckon delish spooned on to toasted sourdough with a little crumbling of blue cheese.