Courgette Carbonara – a summer holiday life-saver!

With the summer holidays nearly here, you need a quick, healthy family recipe to hand. Try Jo Pratt’s Courgette Carbonara – it’s much lighter than a traditional, rich carbonara which makes it a perfect summer meal. It also has one of your five-a-day!
 

Spaghetti and courgette carbonara recipe

Serves: 2 adult or 4 kid-sized portions
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
 
250g/9oz spaghetti
1 tbsp olive oil
125g/4½oz/scant 1 cup finely diced smoked streaky bacon
1 courgette, grated
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
100g/3½oz mascarpone
25g/1oz/¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
 
1. Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to the boil, add the spaghetti and return to the boil. Leave to simmer for about 10 minutes until it’s just tender.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, add the bacon and fry for 8-10 minutes until golden. Add the courgette and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes to take away the initial rawness.

3. In a bowl, mix together the eggs, mascarpone and Parmesan and season lightly with salt and pepper.

4. As soon as the spaghetti is cooked, remove it from the water with a pair of tongs and put it straight in the pan with the bacon and courgette and toss around. Finally, add the egg mixture.

5. Remove from the heat and toss together to coat the spaghetti in the sauce. The heat from the spaghetti will cook the egg just enough without it scrambling. Serve immediately.

Leftovers transformed!

Spaghetti fritters

Any leftover spaghetti carbonara can be transformed into really tasty fritters that are perfect for lunch or even cold in school lunchboxes. Simply take the leftovers and snip the spaghetti a couple of times with a pair of scissors into smaller pieces. Mix with enough beaten egg to bind. You can also add some peas, sweetcorn or more grated courgette here too. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a frying pan. Add spoonfuls of the spaghetti mixture and fry until golden on both sides. Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot or cold.

Find more inspiring quick and easy recipes in bestselling author Jo Pratt’s latest book, Madhouse Cookbook. A life-transforming collection of recipes for busy parents – for surviving the stressful week, coping with weekends and enabling you to cling onto your social life. Follow Jo on her inspiring website jopratt.co.uk