Bavette, Courgette & Pancetta
I really miss the spring and summer time in Liguria, Italy, where I spent my youthful twenty something days torched by the sun and then soothed by the Mediterranean waters. Those were some of the best days of my life!
Italian is my second most favourite cuisine (after Vietnamese). In Vietnam, my cousins crave and crave Italian food and there is a big market for it with many restaurants trying to recreate carbonara or bolognese. I always think of them, when dishing up and enjoying a plate on the sofa, in pure solitude enjoying all the simplicity with the great balance of flavours.
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| Bavette, Courgette & Pancetta |
Serves 2
Prep & Cooking time 15 mins
Ingredients
1/3 packet of bavette, linguine or spaghetti
1 small onion, diced
1/2 bird seye chilli, seeded or de seeded, or dried chilli flakes
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 courgette, grated or julienned
100g pancetta, thinly sliced or cubed
1 splash white wine or cider
juice of half lemon
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of sugar
1 knob butter or a dash of extra virgin olive oil
1 small handful of parsley, coarsely chopped
black pepper for seasoning
parmesan for seasoning
Method
Heat a frying pan and add a dash of olive oil.
Bring pot of water to the boil and cook the bavette according to packet instructions.(should be about 8 mins)
Add onion to sweat in the frying pan with the chilli and garlic. Then add pancetta, splash of white wine, pinch of salt and sugar and stir well. Add courgettes, cooking for about a minute (until soft) and take off heat.
Once the pasta is cooked and drained, mix the courgette and pancetta with it, adding a knob of butter or extra virgin olive oil, juice of the lemon, parsley and a good grinding of black pepper. Mix well and serve with parmesan.