Courgette, Pea & Ricotta Pasta

Ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 courgettes, grated
• 150 g frozen peas
• salt and black pepper
• 0.5 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 150 g ricotta
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 30 g parmesan, grated
• 15g basil or mint, leaves picked
• 200 g penne, orecchiette or fusilli
• Crusty ciabatta, to serve

Method

1. Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil and salt it generously — it should taste like the sea. This is your only chance to season the pasta itself. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, dropping the frozen peas in for the final 2 minutes. Scoop out a mugful of starchy pasta water before draining — don't skip this, it's the glue for the sauce.
2. While the pasta cooks, squeeze the grated courgette in a clean tea towel to wring out the excess water. Wet courgette steams; dry courgette browns. You want browning.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the grated courgette in a single layer and leave it alone for the first minute — if you crowd it and stir too early, it'll sweat instead of catching colour. Cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the moisture has evaporated and the edges turn golden and nutty.
4. Drop the heat to medium. Add the garlic and chilli flakes and cook just until fragrant — 30 seconds, no more. Burnt garlic turns the whole dish bitter, so watch it like a hawk and pull it the moment it smells sweet.
5. Take the pan off the heat. Stir in the ricotta, the lemon zest and a good squeeze of lemon juice, and season generously with salt and plenty of black pepper. Off-heat means the ricotta loosens into a creamy sauce instead of splitting.
6. Tip in the drained pasta and peas with a good splash of pasta water. Toss gently over low heat, adding more pasta water a splash at a time until the sauce coats every piece in a glossy slick — not watery, not claggy. Taste, season, taste again. Adjust now — at the end, not at the table.
7. Divide between warm bowls, scatter over the grated parmesan and torn basil or mint leaves, and serve straight away while the ricotta is still silky.