Spaghetti with a slow cooked Zephyr squash sauce

We thought that as part of our new seed on the month feature it would be good to add some recipes featuring that particular vegetable. Scott of course has worked his magic and came up with a delicious recipe in just a moment. However this feature is in collaboration with premier seeds direct, where you can buy these seeds from. But added to that you can use vegpod10 for an extra discount.

I will now hand you over to Scott to see what he has for us this week

Hi, its Scott here and this week I have the Premier Seeds Direct seed of the month recipe. And as you will know from last week’s podcast where Richard gave us advice on how to sow and grow it it’s a summer squash called Zephyr F1.

And I was happy to hear what premier seeds had chosen for this month as it is something I have eaten before and I can confirm it is a lovely squash with a delicate nutty flavour and can be used very much like courgettes, but I think has much better flavour.

And this week’s recipe really brings out that flavour.  And it is.

Spaghetti with a slow cooked Zephyr squash sauce with preserved lemon & walnuts a very simple recipe where we slow cook the squash to create a creamy fresh tasting pasta sauce perfect for a summers evening supper.

So, lets head to the kitchen and hear how it’s made.

As always you can find this recipe and others on theveggrowerpodcast.co.uk or on my new Instagram page seedtotablepolt13 where you will find this recipe along with a step-by-step video and other cooking and gardening related posts.

This recipe serves 4 and you will need.

Ingredients

1kg thinly sliced Zepher squash best harvested when the are about 10 to 15cm long after this its best to peel the skins off and of course courgettes can be used instead.

4 cloves of garlic sliced.

1 preserved lemon just the peel diced discard the flesh.

Pinch of dried chilli flakes optional

50g chopped walnuts.

10g chopped basil.

10g chopped mint.

2tbs creme fresh.

 50g grated parmesan.

A good splash of good quality olive oil about 100ml

400g spaghetti

Salt and pepper

Method

In a saucepan start by sweating of the garlic in olive oil on a low heat you don’t want to colour the garlic we just want to infuse the oil with the garlic this should take a couple of minuets

Now add the chili if using followed by the Zepher squash and preserved lemon and at the point add a pinch of salt and cook on a medium low heat for 30 to 40 minutes stirring occasionally during the cooking the squash will break down to create a puree you might need to add a splash of water along the way if you think it is becoming to dry.

After 30 to 40 minutes stir in the crème fresh and parmesan and basil and mint while that’s happening cook the pasta as per the packet instructions drain and reserve some of the cooking water now toss the pasta through the squash sauce using a little of the cooking water to create the desired creamy consistency season with salt and pepper and plate up garnishing with chopped walnuts and a little more parmesan.

And that’s the recipe done and that’s it from me this week.