Courgetti with pesto and prawns

I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for a while now. Since the first time I made it (above) I have whipped it up several times for a quick lunch or tea. I just love it. It’s really healthy and incredibly light – perfect skinny food when you need that sort of thing. I was a bit skeptical about spiralising at first – and I still wouldn’t say a spiraliser is an essential kitchen item – but if you like the idea of eating vegetable noodles (maybe it will appeal to your kids?) and are into low calorie dinners then it’s worth the investment. I bought the Hemsley one, at about £25 I think it was…

I am very slapdash with amounts when it comes to pesto, so keep in mind you should adjust to how you like it. And adapt away – some mint might be nice in there… Pesto freezes well too. You could use a jar of pesto – I would never judge you for that – but I will always say go fresh if you have the ingredients in (this is where meal planning comes in!). When you make it with fresh pesto this is special enough to serve at a girly lunch.

I wasn’t sure if I would but I do like courgetti; courgettes are perfectly suited to eating raw. When they are in season and I super fresh, I have peeled them really thin with a potato peeler and added to things like this courgette broad bean and chard risotto. I’ve not tried it as an alternative to spaghetti – and I don’t really see it that way. Rather, I just like to enjoy it’s rawness and treat it in a more ‘salady’ way. Is ‘salady’ a word? It is now…

I would advise using raw prawns but, again, we can still be friends if you use pre cooked ones. In this instance the whole thing would be chilled – and this would be nice too. But the fresh out the pan ones add something I think.

Will kids eat this? Well, unusually Arthur has missed out on this every time I have made it so I can’t answer for him – although I suspect he may like it as he loves pesto and doesn’t mind courgettes. Bea ate some but wasn’t that keen on the noodles – but she blooming well loved the prawns.

Serves: 2 people 
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes 

Ingredients: 
150g raw prawns
2 courgettes (1 per person is plenty, believe me – 1 makes a lot of noodles!)

For the pesto: 
Handful of basil
1 garlic clove
About 100g Parmesan
About 100g pine nuts
Good couple of slugs of extra virgin olive oil
Squeeze lemon juice
Pepper

Instructions: 

1. Spiralise your courgettes! Or if you don’t have one, just peel them with a potato peeler – I guess this will make something like a courgette tagliatelle?!
2. Blitze your pesto ingredients. Taste and adjust as you see fit.
3. Heat a little oil in a pan and fry off prawns until pink.
4. Toss the lot together and season / squeeze lemon / drizzle oil until it tastes super duper.