Zingy courgette and basil pasta
Serves: 2
Prep time: 15 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Tara Fisher
Zingy courgette and basil pasta
Ripe avocado makes a lusciously creamy sauce for pasta in this speedy midweek meal - on the table in 15 minutes
Serves: 2
Prep time: 15 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
541Kcal
Fat
25gr
Saturates
6gr
Carbs
57gr
Sugars
6gr
Fibre
8gr
Protein
19gr
Salt
0.6gr
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Ingredients
- 150g dried conchiglie, or other pasta shape
- 2 medium courgettes (about 450g)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- ½ x 30g pack fresh basil
- 1 ripe avocado
- zest and juice of ½ lemon
- 25g freshly grated Parmesan or vegetarian alternative
Step by step
- Cook the pasta in a large pan of salted boiling water for 10-12 minutes until al dente.
- Meanwhile, trim the courgettes, halve them lengthwise and cut into roughly 1cm thick half-moons. Heat the oil in another saucepan, add the courgettes, garlic and some seasoning and cook over a fairly high heat, covered but stirring occasionally, until golden and tender, about 5 minutes. Finely slice the basil leaves, add half to the courgettes and remove from the heat.
- Scoop the avocado flesh into a bowl and add the lemon zest and juice, 15g of the Parmesan and most of the remaining shredded basil. Blitz to a purée using a hand blender (or mash using a fork) and season generously.
-
Drain the pasta, reserving half a mugful of the cooking water. Return to the pan and mix in the avocado sauce and the courgettes, adding some of the pasta water if needed to give a creamy coating-consistency sauce. Divide between warm bowls and scatter with the reserved basil and the rest of the Parmesan.TipBulk it up:
Missing the meat? Curmble in some crispy bacon to serve.
Make it vegan:
Use dairy-free Parmesan-style cheese.
