Pasta with courgettes and their flowers

Herald on Sunday 13/2/2012

Grant Allen

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Courgette flowers can be fried in a light tempura batter. They can be stuffed with various fillings and steamed and, in this manner, were once the height of fashion on restaurant menus. I have not fond memories of filling these delicate things with scallop mousse, poaching them and serving them on a beurre blanc sauce. What were we thinking? This idea is more rustic and much less pretentious.

Ingredients

4	Courgettes
12	Courgette flowers
2 g	Butter
½	Onion
4	Bacon rashers
3	Chives
1 to serve	Tagliatelle pasta
1 to serve	Parmesan cheese

Directions

Thinly slice 4 small courgettes.
Remove the stalk and stamen from about 12 courgette flowers and tear into strips.
Heat some butter in a pan and saute half a finely chopped onion.
Dice 4 rashers of bacon and add this to the pan, cook for a few minutes until the bacon starts to colour. Add the sliced courgettes, a few chopped chives and cook for a few more minutes. The courgettes just need to soften. Season and keep warm.
Cook your favourite ribbon pasta in plenty of boiling water. Drain.
Just before serving add the flower strips to the sauce and let them wilt.
Toss in the pasta, add some finely grated parmesan and serve immediately. A tip that I learnt in Italy was to always add the pasta to the sauce, not vice versa. Also, it helps to integrate the two if you mix a little of the pasta water to the sauce just before combining.