As much as I’m an absolute fan of pasta in any shape or form, I can’t help but also love the veggie ‘pasta’ alternatives. This is a great way to keep your dish on the lighter side and up your veggie intake without it feeling as if you’re eating a bowl of just veggies. That being said, this recipe can easily be amended to replace the veggie spaghetti with actual spaghetti. I haven’t made this recipe in large quantities before, but if I were to, I’d probably give the baby marrows a quick steam in a pot, rather than the microwave. They don’t need a lot of time to cook. Poke a few holes in the baggy and pop in the microwave for bursts of 30 seconds. It should take about one to two minutes, depending on the power of your microwave. Remove from the packaging as soon as it’s done, otherwise it will continue to cook and soften. Cooking the baby marrow ‘pasta’ should be your last step
in the preparation.
For the creamy pasta sauce, use full fat cream and fresh parmesan. The already grated kind does not dissolve completely as it has hardened already and will result in a grainy textured sauce, and nobody wants that. I know… solid pieces of parmesan are expensive, I also used to be too stingy and bought the small grated packets. But using good quality ingredients gets you good quality food, and isn’t that what life’s about? (Yes… that’s the exact line I use when standing in the cheese isle, justifying my choices) The added bonus here is that a wedge of fresh parmesan cheese, if properly sealed can last up to six weeks in the fridge. Very tightly wrap it in cling wrap and if you want to be extra, put it in a zip-seal bag.
You will need:
Medium saucepan
Non-stick frying pan
Measuring spoons and cups
Kitchen scale
Fine zester/ grater
Yields: 2 servings
Ingredients:
350g Baby Marrow Spaghetti
400ml Cream
40g Parmesan Cheese (finely grated)
15ml Olive oil
100g Mangetout (Sugar snap peas will also work)
100g Baby corn
6 Strips of streaky bacon (Can be left out for a vegetarian option)
Micro herbs to garnish
Method:
In a medium sauce pan, heat the cream, do not let it boil. Before it reaches boiling point, remove from the heat and add in the parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese it melted. The sauce might look runny at this stage, but it will start to thicken slightly once it starts to cool. Taste the sauce and add salt if needed. Keeping in mind the saltiness of the bacon that you’ll be adding in later.
In a non-stick frying pan, add 5ml olive oil and over medium heat grill the mangetout and baby corn until they start to soften slightly ad get some color. Remove the veggies from the pan and add a few drops of oil if needed and fry the strips of bacon. I love crispy bacon, but don’t want it to be dry and flavourless. If your pan is too hot and you fry your bacon at a high temperature, the fat melts out, leaving you with less flavour and dry, tough bacon. So, to prevent this, I fry the strips over medium heat and just as they start to get some color, remove the pan from the heat but leave the bacon in the pan, uncovered. The heat from the melted fat will crisp up the bacon without melting out all the fat. For the baby marrow spaghetti, use a fork or a sharp knife to poke a few holes in the packaging, place on a plate, this will make it easier to remove once cooked, cause that little baggie gets super hot. Steam for 1-2 minutes, depending on the power of your microwave. Once the spaghetti has softened up, transfer to a pasta strainer and allow any excess liquid to drain off.
Add the baby marrow spaghetti to the creamy sauce. Stir to get the spaghetti all covered in creamy cheese sauce. Serve and top with the grilled veggies, crispy bacon strips and garnish with fresh micro herbs.
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