Richard's Late Summer Evening Pasta

Ingredients

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C/180ºC fan. Cut just the top off a bulb of garlic so the cloves inside are exposed. Drizzle with a little olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap the garlic in foil and roast in the oven until soft but not brown, about 40 minutes to an hour. It’s done when the inside is soft and creamy; pierce with a knife to check.
2. Squeeze the roasted garlic bulb over a bowl or a blender jug and discard the skin. Add lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and 3 tbsp of olive oil; whisk vigorously or blend until you have a cream-coloured sauce with the consistency of double cream.
3. Set a pot of water to boil, add salt, and cook pasta to the texture you like. Drain, saving some pasta water to use later in the recipe.
4. Meanwhile, slice the courgette(s) into rounds, then stack a few rounds on top of one another and slice into half-moons. Heat the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil over a medium or large frying pan. Add the courgettes and cook for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the cooked pasta to the pan, along with the garlic-lemon sauce. Stir vigorously to coat all the pasta, adding a few tablespoons of pasta cooking water to help the sauce come together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

BK Tips

• You can roast the garlic in advance and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
  
  
• To make walnut vinaigrette, whisk 3 parts oil with 1 part sherry vinegar; add salt and pepper to taste.