500g dried pasta (linguini, spaghetti or bucatini) 5 medium zucchini (about 900g) 1 medium onion, finely chopped 4 cloves of garlic, minced olive oil ½ tsp chilli flakes 50g parmesan, freshly grated 125ml cream 1 lemon, juice and zest a good handful of parsley, finely chopped
About 2 hours prior to making the pasta, grate the zucchini using the coarse side of a box grater, toss with 1 teaspoon of salt, place in a fine sieve over a bowl and leave to drain. When you are ready to make your pasta, place the zucchini in a clean tea towel, wrap it up and ring the excess moisture out, this step is quite important. Heat a good glug of olive oil in a deep frying pan, add the onion and sauté until soft and just starting to colour, add the garlic and chilli flakes, cook until you can just smell the garlic (about 30 seconds). Add the prepared zucchini, season with salt and pepper. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, season well with salt, add the pasta and cook to the package instructions. Cook the zucchini mixture until any moisture has cooked off, the mixture is starting to stick together and just start to stick to the base of the pan. Set aside. When the pasta is cooked, remove a cup of cooking liquid, set aside. Strain the pasta, add to the zucchini mixture with half a cup of the cooking liquid, turn the heat on low, and toss together before adding the parmesan and cream. Cook until you have a thick creamy sauce, adding more pasta water if needed. Remove from the heat, add the lemon zest, lemon juice and parsley. Taste, correct the seasoning, adding more lemon juice, salt and pepper if needed. Serve with freshly grated parmesan.
