Sam Lomas’ slow cooked courgette pasta
INGREDIENTS
Serves 2
- 160g orecchiette
- 400g small courgettes
- 4 plum tomatoes
- 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
- 1 heaped tbsp tarragon, chopped
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 150g soft goats cheese
- Halen Môn Pure White Sea Salt
- Black pepper, freshly ground
- Hard herbs, such as rosemary, sage, bay leaves and marjoram
- Flowering fennel and marjoram (optional)
We were delighted to have Great British Menu chef Sam Lomas back on the Salty Isle this summer, cooking for a crowd of lucky diners under canvas and stars.
He kindly shared this recipe which we enjoyed on the evening.
Preheat oven to 160c.
Quarter the tomatoes and arrange on a small baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, a good scattering of the hard herbs and plenty of sea salt and pepper.
Roast in the oven for 1 hour until the tomatoes start to intensify in flavour and become crinkly at the edges.
Slice the courgettes thinly into rounds.
Set a wide heavy based frying pan on a medium heat. Add plenty of olive oil to the base of the pan, be generous here, the olive oil is a really crucial part of the sauce so you will need a good couple of tablespoons.
Start sizzling the sliced garlic in the olive oil and when it starts to become slightly golden add the sliced courgettes and season well.
Slowly cook down the courgettes in the olive oil, this will take a minimum of 15 minutes. You want the courgettes to soften and start to break down at the edges and the excess water evaporates.
Bring a pan of heavily salted water to the boil and cook the orecchiette for 10 minutes, drain and reserve some of the pasta cooking water.
Take the roasted tomatoes and add to the pan with the courgettes, ensuring you get any of the juices from the roasting tin.
Add the al dente orecchiette to the pan of courgettes and tomatoes, stir in the chopped tarragon along with a good splash of the pasta water to create a creamy sauce. Season with more salt, pepper and olive oil to taste.
Scatter over the soft goats cheese, fennel and oregano flowers and serve.
RECIPE: Sam Lomas