Courgette, tomato, mascarpone, pasta?

[NotQuiteCockney]

I want to make pasta for tea. I want to use up courgettes and mascarpone, probably in a tomatoey sauce. Will this work?

Do I salt the courgettes? Does that help? And fry them a bit with the onions, then add tomato? Do I cook the mascarpone at all, or just stir it in at the end? Would a bit of mild cheddar be good with this, too? Or maybe pancetta?

right young lady

I think you should grate your courgettes on the coarse side of the grater, put them in a bowl with salt and black pepper and a good squeeze of lemon juice

Melt some butter and olive oil in a pan and add diced pancetta and fry until crispy, add the courgettes and stir thoroughly for 1 minute, take off the heat, add the drained pasta and the marscapone and stir through thoroughly. Not a whole tub of marscapone as it is very rich.

Serve with freshly grated parmesan and a salad of fresh sliced tomatoes and finely sliced red onions

That sounds lovely, SW!

Wow. That sounds lovely, I think I will do that.

Suzywong, do you work in the food industry or something?

Yes

I was a cook in a former life

What kind of pasta are you planning to use just out of interest

Penne or Fusilli - think I'd use fusilli for this? (My choices are limited as DS2 makes too much mess with spaghetti or shells.)

excellent choice, madame

How long do I want to be leaving the courgettes with lemon, salt and pepper?

oh just while you boil the past and fry the pancetta

Unsurprisingly, this came out very very well. Huge hit with DS2 as well. I think I put too much mascarpone in, but it was lovely nonetheless.

Hurrah