Give Me Five: A Friday feast from five ingredients

By Friday, my fridge is usually bare but for a few courgettes looking coyly at one another, a chunk of cheese despairing that it hasn’t yet been eaten and a solitary lemon. What these ingredients don’t know is that they will soon be transformed into a delicious, wholesome dinner in double quick time.

The key to this recipe, as with all simple recipes, is the quality of the ingredients. A really nutty Parmesan, good grassy olive oil and crunchy flakes of sea salt. If, like me, you regularly realise there is “nothing in the house”, then you will need to build up a good pantry of basics.

As mentioned, a good olive oil is essential; Greece produces some amazing examples. It is worth investing and spending a bit of money on a good one – if it seems too cheap to be true, then it probably is.

Taste it with a little bread and see if you like it. It has to taste smooth, fresh and grassy. There should be no greasy, chemical aftertaste. You should be able to close your eyes and imagine yourself in an olive grove with the faint sound of bells as shepherds herd mountain goats to pasture.

A great sea salt is a must too. It’s fantastic that Ireland now has some quality home-produced salts, such as Irish Atlantic Sea Salt and Oriel, to rival the culinary world’s darling, Maldon. If you’re trying to avoid salt but still want the salt effect, then try using ground milled seaweed.

I use Sea of Vitality milled dillisk or ground kelp in my tomato-based pizza and pasta sauces in place of salt, sneaking valuable minerals and vitamins into my children’s diets.

There is usually a riot of dominant herbs such as oregano and basil vying for their attention, so the seaweed umami taste fits perfectly into the background. It’s similar to adding a finely chopped anchovy for richness, but much more convenient.

It is worth having a good pepper-grinder or a pestle and mortar, as freshly ground pepper is invaluable. It perks up poached eggs, brings cheese on toast to a new level and is amazing on strawberries.

It’s not always possible to get pretty, small courgettes so I often use the regular green ones that are a little smaller than cucumbers. It’s nice for the courgette to remain quite raw and just wilt once it hits the hot pasta, so if the courgette is big, just roughly grate it instead of slicing.

Any cheese is good here: a swirl of creamy, garlic-spiked Boursin, some grated mature Hegarty’s cheddar or Pecorino.

Having a good stock of pasta is a must – spaghetti, fusilli, tagliatelle and penne as well as some of the prettier orecchiette, orzo or macaroni. Dinner is never far away once there is pasta bubbling in a pot.

COURGETTE, MINT AND PARMESAN PASTA

Serves 4

The five ingredients:

1 – Courgette; 2 – Pasta; 3 – Lemon; 4 – Parmesan; 5 – Mint

300g courgette

300g pasta (cut macaroni, penne or orecchiette)

About 12 mint leaves

Grated zest of one lemon

50g Parmesan

From the store cupboard:

Sea salt Butter or olive oil

Method

1) Thinly slice the courgette into rounds; a mandolin is perfect for this. Set aside.

2) Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the pasta and cook for eight minutes or more, depending on what pasta you use. Once al dente, drain in a colander over the sink – but try to keep two to three tablespoons of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pan. Add a generous glug of olive oil or butter and stir to coat. Stir through the courgette (which will wilt) and lemon zest.

3) Stack the mint leaves on top of one another, roll into a neat cigar shape then, using a sharp knife, slice as finely as possible. Separate the mint chiffonade gently with your fingers and then add to the pasta. Leave this to the last minute as the mint blackens once cut.

4) Shave or finely grate the Parmesan over the top and serve immediately.

[ givemefive@irishtimes.com ]