I absolutely love pasta. It's so economical and quick and easy to prepare that normally if starving I just boil up some penne pasta or something similar and heat up a shop bought carbonara sauce and fry up some vine tomatoes, bits of bacon, a bit of onion and stir that into my sauce and whack me sauce all over me pasta, sprinkle loads of rock salt on and some black pepper and some grated cheese and voila a tasty meal in minutes.

I feel even I that can't cook and don't particulary want to can whip us something rather special if need be with pasta and it was like that the other night when a friend said she was coming to mine for her dinner. I went into a blind panic and thought I wonder if they got anything good in Marks & Spencers that I can pass off as my own cooking! Then after a little deliberation I realised this could cost me a fortune!

I hunted in my freezers, checked my personal recipe book in which I have collected recipes for years and I did this one which I have done plenty of times and is actually adapted to my personal taste. This recipe you can change, so go mad with it. Originally it was pasta shells and salmon lol

So my dish is called Prawn and Courgette Linguine....

It takes about 5 minutes in preparation and around 25 minutes to cook it. You need no skills an it's flipping effortless and looks very impressive.

Ingredients....

1 large Courgette, thinly sliced
6 oz Linguine
2 tblsp olive oil (extra virgin if you got it)
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1 small pinch of chilli flakes (to taste, and I find the best to use are dried rather than adding real chillies)
Grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
6 oz pack of cooked and peeled king prawns (course if you haven't got king prawns you can use any prawns and if you not keen on prawns then use any fish of your choosing. A good thing to use in this is mixed bag of fish pieces fro the supermarket)
1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley (must be fresh and not dried, dried makes this taste gross!)
1 tbsp pine nuts, toasted (optional but does give a nice flavour)
Ground black pepper (essential!)

To Cook Up A Storm....

Heat a griddle or a none-stick pan over a very high heat, smoking if possible. I use me stepdads griddle pan to give nie lines on my courgettes. When the pan is hot, add the courgette and cook for about 5 minutes until golden. Don't keep turning them though as it makes them fall apart so I try to only flip them the once. Meanwhile cook the linguine to the packets instructions.

Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a frying pan over a medium heat than add the garlic and chilli flakes. Stir fry for a few seconds and then add the lemon zest and prawns and heat through for about a further 3 minutes. Add the grilled courgettes (carefully) and the lemon juice and heat for another minute or so. Not too long, just a bit to heat the lot through.

Drain the pasta and rinse it with load of hot water and then add the prawn and courgette mixture along with the parsley, toasted pine nuts (I buy them that way but you can just heat chopped pine nuts in a hot pan with no oil and it takes about a minute) and remaining olive oil. Toss it all well, season it particulary with the black pepper and serve immedietely.

My favourite way to serve this is in oversized white dishes with lots of crusty white bread covered in butter or to make my own garlic bread and a little green side salad and of course some white wine, and my friend loved it!

The above recipe serves 2 people so double upon ingredients etc if you want to serve more people etc.