Courgetti Spaghetti!

I found a bargain spiralizer thingy in Lidl yesterday - at £2.99 for a set of three, I couldn't leave it on the shelf, worth a go even its rubbish (I think that's probably Lidl/Aldi's entire business strategy right there, and I'm a sucker for it).

Verdict: not bad for the price. I've never used a proper spiralizer, so I have nothing to compare these to, but they seem to work alright with a bit of trial and error.  The courgetti was lush so I can see me investing in a proper all-singing all-dancing gadget before long.

We're in the middle of a courgette glut at the moment, so I picked one of our home grown monsters to test out the new kit. 

Once I got the hang of it, it was pretty easy. Half my courgette was too fat to fit in the attachments, but I reckon it would work fine with regular sized shop bought produce.  I had bits left over but I used them in the pasta sauce.

We grow courgettes every year, so I have a few courgette recipes in my repertoire (courgette cake anyone?)... One of our favourites is from the River Cottage Cookbook. It uses single cream, but I adapted it yesterday to make it SW, not free but low-syn, and the result was seriously scrummy.

Courgetti Spaghetti (Serves 2-3)

1 monster home grown almost-a-marrow, or 3-4 normal sized courgettes

200g spaghetti

Frylight 

4 smoked bacon medallions

1-2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 level tbsp low fat crème fraîche (syn for the brand you are using - they vary)

Fat free Fromage Frais

Salt and pepper

Grated fresh Parmesan / Grana Padano (syn, or use 30g for your HEA)

1. Spiralize about half your courgette(s). Dice the rest.

2. Cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions.

3.  Spray a large frying pan with Frylight. Chop the bacon and fry on a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add the diced courgette and garlic, and cook until the courgette reduces down. Add your crème fraîche, and enough Fromage Frais to make it into a nice creamy sauce.  I also added a splash of the pasta cooking water to loosen the sauce up a bit.

4. When the pasta is cooked, add the courgetti and swirl it around in the water to mix it in with the spaghetti. Drain, and chuck the whole lot in the frying pan with the sauce.  Mix well, and season with salt and pepper to taste.  You can either add your Parmesan now, or after portioning out if you're counting your syns / HEA allowance (the cheesier the better, IMHO, but perhaps not if you're on plan!)