Courgette Pasta with Mushrooms – a Few Words about Seasonality
Even I can’t believe that I started working on the Courgette Pasta with Mushrooms recipe over a year ago. I made it once, wasn’t entirely happy so several days later I cooked an improved version of it. I wrote down the recipe, but I was too much in a rush to take photos. So, I had to prepare it again. Except, busy with some other jobs, I didn’t get to it on time – the chanterelle season was over…
This made me realize how I more and more appreciate seasonality of vegetable and fruit. I know for some of you it may be obvious, but it was not always the case for me.
For some time I used to buy e.g. fresh tomatoes or strawberries all year round. I didn’t really enjoy them in winter as they hardly had any taste. But I think it was the fact that I COULD buy them in winter I enjoyed the most. Again, some of you may be surprised that it was such a big deal for me. But it was. Up till I started my university all produce in Poland was seasonal. There was a season for strawberries – May and June, and there was a season for oranges – December. (Just to clarify: oranges don’t grow here, but even in deep communist’s times we had them for Christmas thanks to mercifully ruling party leaders). Thus, when finally, the system in Poland changed, we could experience what people in the West had for ages, e.g. strawberries in winter.
Zucchini Pasta with Mushrooms – a Delicious and Lighter Dish
I am sure I wasn’t the only one overwhelmed with the choices and possibilities back then. But nowadays I make better decisions. I know that even though tomatoes are available all year round, in December they will never taste as good as they do in summer. So, I should enjoy them in summer almost to the point I have enough of them.
And the same applies to mushrooms or my favourite chanterelles. Thus, I quickly will share this recipe for Courgette Pasta with Mushrooms so you will have a chance to enjoy this fantastic lighter* dish while chanterelles are still in season.
*This Zucchini Pasta with Mushrooms is lighter than you would expect because I replaced part of the tagliatelle with courgette prepared with spiralizer. If you – just like me – still learn to appreciate zucchini, this is a great way to introduce more of it into your diet.
Courgette Pasta with Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 shallot thinly chopped,
- 2 cloves garlic thinly sliced,
- 200 g chanterelles cleaned and dried,
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 courgette (small, weighing approx. 200g), prepared with a spiralizer or with a vegetable peeler
- 125 ml double cream
- 150 g tagliatelle
- salt and pepper.
- Parmesan cheese , shaved, to serve
Instructions
- On a medium heat warm up 1 tbsp olive oil and butter.
- Add the chopped shallot and garlic, fry on a medium heat for 2-3 mins.
- In the meantime, boil a pot of salted water and cook the pasta al dente as per the packet instruction.
- When the shallot and garlic are translucent, add the chanterelles, season with salt, pepper and thyme, and fry for 3-5 mins.
- Remove everything from the frying pan onto a warm plate, wipe the frying pan with a paper towel, add the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil, heat it up, add the courgette and stir fry for 1 min.
- Transfer the mushrooms back to the frying pan with courgette, add the cream and warm up.
- Combine with cooked pasta, if too dry, add a bit of the reserved pasta cooking water), check the seasoning and serve sprinkled with some Parmesan shavings.