Courgette and goats cheese spaghetti

I have been really lucky this month to be invited to take part in Somerset Goats #Capricorn challenge. Ethel (she's a goat by the way and she can tweet wonderfully even with cloven hooves) sent a fabulous hamper full of goodies to inspire me to develop some lovely recipes that use this delicious mildly goaty rinded cheese. Ethel was worried that as a Lancashire focused blogger I wouldn't want to take part, but I assured her that despite being passionate about local food I was also passionate when it comes to United Kingdom produce too.

It was great fun experimenting with the lovely cheese which is a nice mix between crumbly and creamy and has just the right amount of ooze factor, it combines well with a lot of different ingredients. Thanks Ethel !

Ingredients

• Spaghetti approx 75g per person 
• 1 round of Somerset goats cheese, chopped into small pieces
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 2 large courgettes - coarsely grated
• Lemon juice and lemon rind - approx 1 small lemon
• 1/2 a dried red chilli chopped finely, seeds removed
• Fresh thyme stripped and finely chopped - good pinch
• Fresh mint, finely shredded - 1 tbsp
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 clove of garlic - crushed

Method

• Put your spaghetti, in boiling salted water and cook for the length of time stated on the pack.
• Whilst the spaghetti cooks, heat your olive oil in a frying pan and gently fry the garlic and chilli for about 1 minute.
• Add the grated courgette to the pan and cook for 2 minutes.
• Remove from heat until the spaghetti is cooked.
• Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain quickly, toss in the pan with the lemon juice, rind, herbs and goats cheese, if a little dry add some of the pasta cooking water.
• Once thoroughly mixed serve with freshly ground black pepper.

Tenderstem and chorizo spaghetti

I have been having fun today as I am one of the lucky bloggers to be chosen to take part in Tenderstem in Ten challenge, basically the challenge is to make a meal in 10 minutes or less with 10 or less ingredients which includes Tenderstem.

Tenderstem for those of you who don't know is a broccoli originally grown in Japan, that you can eat from head to tail, and it cooks in 3 minutes. Its a really versatile ingredient and given the speed of cooking is a healthy addition to any recipe. The Tenderstem website has loads of inspiration on it on how to use this ingredient.

I had great fun devising a recipe that would be cooked and ready in less than 10 minutes and achievable for anyone. 

This recipe serves 2 adults and is flexible enough for you to free style with other ingredients if you so wish, you could add crushed garlic or finely chopped chilli.You could also subsitute another type of pasta as long it cooks in less than 10 minutes.

Ingredients

• Spaghetti ( approx 75g per person)
• Pack of Tenderstem 
• Olive oil
• Ring of Chorizo - sliced
• Freshly grated paramesan - to serve
• Freshly ground black pepper - to serve

Method

• Steam or boil your Tenderstem for 3 minutes
• Whilst cooking your Tenderstem, put your spaghetti on to boil for the time on the pack, mine was 7 minutes.
• Meanwhile fry off your sliced chorizo in plenty of olive oil, until the chorizo starts to go crispy and the paprika oil is mixing with the olive oil.
• Drain your broccoli and add to chorizo pan to keep warm, whilst your spaghetti is finishing cooking
• Drain spaghetti and add to the chorizo pan and mix well
• Serve sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan and freshly ground black pepper
• Done in 10 :-)