Skip to Content

15 Minute Saffron and Courgette Pasta

15 Minute Saffron and Courgette Pasta

  Saffron Courgette Pasta

Never will I be a girl who orders a salad in a restaurant. I may be vegetarian but my appetite longs for more than a few pesky leaves. I’m usually the one who eats around the salad that comes with a meal, pushing it to the edge of the plate after it’s been wilted to mulch from the heat of the real food. Often, I need nothing more than carbs in a creamy sauce. Fast.

The simplicity of this pasta is exactly what makes it so special – take just seven ingredients and fifteen minutes and you’ll have an indulgent dinner with a touch of class. Your date, friends or family will believe you really pushed the boat out for them. For best results, don’t admit the truth.

Without a doubt, the star of the recipe is the saffron; simmered in double cream until the cream becomes a pale yellow with a delicate flavour. You’ll only need a tiny pinch for a heap of deep muskiness. It’s important not to go overboard with the saffron; it’s there to lightly infuse the cream – not to make it bitter and turmeric-yellow.

Saffron Courgette Pasta

Crisp courgettes give the dish just enough bite to break up the silkiness of the pasta and sauce. For an extra kick, you can add a sprinkle of chilli flakes but I really love the simplicity of the dish without.

I use Gigli pasta for this dish – the flower-like shape envelopes the sauce and the pasta becomes stained with the sunset-yellow colour, making it even more like a plate of ruffled daffodils, speckled with strands of saffron. Having said this, I’ve also tried it with fettucine, tagliatelle and linguine – all are fine.

15 Minute Saffron and Courgette Pasta
(Serves 2)

Ingredients

150g dried Gigli pasta, cooked according to packet instructions
1 large courgette, halved and quartered lengthways, then chopped into 1cm pieces
1 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, peeled
300ml double (heavy) cream
½ tsp salt
Small pinch saffron

Method

1. Heat the butter in a large saucepan until foaming. Add the whole garlic clove and courgettes. You want the garlic to flavour the sauce ever so slightly. Sauté for a minute.

2. Add the cream, and saffron and bring to a gentle simmer. Allow to reduce for five minutes. Remove the garlic.

3. Add the cooked pasta and combine until coated. Serve piping hot.

Saffron Courgette Pasta

Love Sanjana

 

Rose Custard Creams
← Previous
Eggless Rose Custard Creams
Tandoori Paneer Samosas
Next →
Tandoori Paneer Samosas

chinmayie @ love food eat

Tuesday 8th of January 2013

Beautifully refreshing compared to other regular creamy pastas.

Padhu

Sunday 6th of January 2013

Looks yummy and nice pictures

Priya

Saturday 5th of January 2013

Very rich looking pasta, never combined saffron with pastas,sounds truly interesting.

Simi from turmeric n spice

Saturday 5th of January 2013

Awesome shots, well I was just like you, salad was the last thing I would ever order, but I don't know what happened .... I eat my salad first and yes sometimes that's my main course. But for sure I will not pass this pasta for any salad