Creamy Spinach and Courgette Pasta with Sour Cream Sauce
A delicious, easy vegetarian pasta dish made with the most incredible sour cream sauce. Served with spinach and courgettes.
Ingredients
- 500 g fusilli (or any other spiral pasta)
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 1 cup of vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- 1 tablespoon of cornflour
- 35 g of fresh parmesan cheese grated
- 400 g of zucchini halved length-ways, then use a spoon to scoop out the seedy core. From there, thickly slice.
- 200 g of spinach roughly chopped
- 10-15 g of flat leaf parsley
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- Black pepper for seasoning
Instructions
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Put 2 liters of water in a large pot, then add your salt.
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Bring that water to a rolling boil, then add your pasta. Boil for 8-9 minutes (once the pasta is almost cooked, scoop out some of the pasta water with a mug). Once the pasta is cooked, drain it.
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Put your sour cream, stock and cornflour in a small pot, and then whisk the ingredients together. From there, Bring the sour cream sauce to a boil, then turn the heat down low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened.
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Finish the sauce by turning off the heat, then add you parmesan and stir through until the parmesan is fully incorporated (you shouldn't need to add salt because the parmesan seasons the sauce well enough). From there, season with black pepper and set then set the sauce aside until needed.
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Pre-heat the large pot back over medium flame for about 1 minute, add half of your olive oil and then add your zucchini.
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Cook the zucchini for 2-3 minutes until cooked but still crunchy.
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Transfer the cooked zucchini to a bowl, add the other half of your olive oil and then add your garlic. Fry for about half a minute.
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Add the sauce, then add your pasta. If the pasta is sticking together too much, add some of the pasta water you scooped out earlier to loosen it up.
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Finally, turn the heat off, add your zucchini and your parsley, then serve. Add some extra black pepper if you wish.
Recipe Notes
- Use freshly grated parmesan for the sauce, rather than the pre-grated parmesan because the pre-grated stuff doesn't often melt through the sauce quite as well.
- Wilt the spinach and squeeze out most of it's water content, so that it doesn't cause the pasta to go soggy.
- Slice the zucchini in half lengthways, the use a spoon to scoop out the core before slicing. Since the core of a zucchini is quite spongy and wet.
- Don't cook the zucchini for too long, you want it to be tender but still have some crunch.
- If you have leftovers, store the pasta in an air-tight container, then store it in the fridge for no longer that 3 days.
- Other ingredients that would be good to add to this pasta are: Mushrooms (sliced and pan-fried), kale (quickly boiled in salted water and drained) and crispy pancetta (if you don't mind this dish no longer being vegetarian).