I love cooking but I need time to be able to go through recipes, think about who I’m cooking for and what I want to cook, prepare and then cook. Recently we had some friends coming over for lunch but it was on a day I was running back with one child from a child’s party and hubby was running back with another from weekend lessons. I needed something that was quick to cook, tasty and not your standard platter or BBQ. These friends cook good food so this lunch needed to be up to standard.
I settled on vegetarian pizzas and zucchini, lemon and chilli pasta with marinated chicken for the non-vegetarians. I could prepare the bases and ingredients for the pizzas that morning and the pasta dish wouldn’t take that long. The chicken was marinated in spices and cooked on the BBQ.
After a manic morning and rain storm, our guests arrived, wine was opened and lunch began. The flavours in the pasta were amazing. Unfortunately I over cooked the pasta a tad but the flavours still came through. It was lovely on its own though hubby preferred it with the chicken – still trying to convert him to vegetarian meals!! Fabulous friends, amazing wine and tasty food – all the right ingredients for a fabulous lunch that went long into the late afternoon. Check out the recipe below for the pasta dish.
Ingredients
- 375g spaghetti (enough for four people)
- Olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic
- ½ teaspoon chilli flakes (or use chilli paste if you don’t have chilli flakes)
- 2 small – medium zucchinis, grated
- Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
- Grated parmesan cheese, to serve
Method
- Cook spaghetti in a large saucepan of boiling water following packet instructions. Drain
- Heat olive oil in a pan and sauté onion, garlic and chilli for 3-5 minutes or until onion is tender
- Add in zucchini, lemon zest and juice and cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste
- Toss zucchini mixture through pasta until combined. Top with grated parmesan cheese
Loopsy Mum 