Zucchini alla Carbonara

Serves: 4

Ingredients

6 medium green and yellow courgettes (c. 1kg)
400g penne
4 large egg yolks
100g Parmesan, finely grated
olive oil
12 thick slices of pancetta (c. 150g)
Thyme
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Boil a full kettle of water. Meanwhile, quarter the courgettes lengthwise and cut out and discard any fluffy middle bits (the seeds), and slice the courgettes at an angle into pieces roughly the same size and shape as the penne. Smaller courgettes can simply be sliced finely. Slice the pancetta into 10mm pieces.

2. To make your carbonara sauce, put the egg yolks into a bowl and add the Parmesan, mixing together with a fork. Season very lightly and put to one side.

3. Fill a large saucepan with around 2 litres of boiling water and 10g of salt. Once rapidly boiling add your pasta, wait for it to come back to the boil and set your timer.

4. At the same time heat a very large frying pan on a high, add a good splash of olive oil and fry the pancetta until beginning to brown and crisp (3-4 minutes). Reduce the heat to medium and add the courgette slices and two big pinches of black pepper, not just to season but to give it a bit of a kick. Sprinkle in the thyme to taste (be bold!), give everything a stir so the courgettes become coated with all the lovely bacon-flavoured oil, and fry until they start to turn lightly golden and have softened slightly (6-7 minutes).

5. It’s very important to get this next bit right or your carbonara could end up ruined. You need to work quickly. Approximately three minutes before the pasta is cooked al dente add two ladlefuls of the pasta water to the carbonara mixture and stir. When cooked, drain the pasta. Immediately, toss the pasta in the pan with the courgettes and pancetta then remove from the heat. When the frying sound is almost inaudible, add the carbonara sauce. Stir together quickly. (No more cooking now, otherwise you’ll scramble the eggs.) Taste and add a touch more water if you want so you have a silky and shiny sauce.

5. Devour with a fresh white baguette!

(adapted from a recipe by Jamie Oliver)