Courgette pasta with spinach balls

First post - very exciting!

After two weeks away the veg plot had just gone whoosh. We had one massive courgette and masses of spinach.
One of my faithful courgette glut recipes is attractively known in our house as ‘Courgette Mush’ and is based on a Hugh Fernley Whittingstall recipe. A couple of years ago we had a major glut and this is a great way to use some up and can be frozen too.

To use up some of the spinach I used an Antonio Carluccio recipe for spinach balls. This is the first time I’ve tried this recipe and they were divine – when is spinach and cheese ever a bad combo, especially with a grate of nutmeg – possibly a new staple.

For the sauce

2 regular courgettes or 1 large one

2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

A handful of grated cheese (preferably parmesan)

For the spinach balls

200g spinach

A handful of grated cheese

1 egg

1 cup breadcrumbs

Salt and pepper

Pinch of nutmeg

1 tsp garlic (reserved from the above pureed with a side of a knife with a little salt)

Enough cooked pasta for two people

Finely slice the courgette (if you are using one large courgette slice it into quarters long ways first).  Heat the oil in a pan and gently fry the garlic.  Add the courgette and a little salt and stir well.  Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  When it’s done the courgette should be just disintegrating and, for want of a better word, going a bit mushy.

To make the balls: Blanch the spinach (I do this by putting it into a colander and pouring a kettle of boiling water over it and then cool it down under the cold tap), squeeze out any excess water and finely chop it.

Mix all the ingredients together except the eggs. Once it is well mixed add the egg.  If it is too wet add a tablespoon more breadcrumbs (it should still be a little wet).

Roll into walnut sized balls and then fry gently for 4-5 minutes on each side (if you start doing this at the same time as you start cooking your pasta on everything should be done at the same time.)

Drain the pasta reserving a cup of the water.  Stir the cheese into the courgette mixture and then stir thorough the pasta adding the reserved pasta water to loosen as needed.

Split the pasta between two warmed bowls and top with the spinach balls.


Serves two