This pasta dish is a great one for when I’m stumped for something to cook. Other than the courgettes the rest of the ingredients are usually in the cupboard. It’s reasonable simple to prepare as well - not to mention really tasty.

Grilling the Courgettes

Firstly slice the courgettes lengthways into half centimetre strips and season with a little sea salt and blank pepper. Drizzle with a little olive oil, enough to lightly coat all the courgettes.

Usually I grill the courgettes in a grill-pan, though I have successfully done them under a grill as well. Make sure that they begin to blister on one side before turning them over and grilling the other side. This will take a little while as you’ll probably have to grill the slices in batches - that is unless you happen to have a catering size chargrill in your kitchen!

Parmesan, lemon and chili dressing

Whilst the courgettes are grilling away  prepare the dressing by squeezing the juice of one small lemon into a mixing jug or similar vessel. Add to this the chopped garlic and chili and then slowly add the olive oil whilst whisking vigorously. Stir in the finely grated Parmesan and season with sea salt. You will not need any black pepper as the chili will spice the dressing up on its own.

Once the courgettes are all grilled slice them accross into 1 cm thick slices and place in a large mixing bowl. Meanwhile in a dry frying pan toast off the pine nuts until golden brown to help release their flavour, add these to the courgettes once ready.

Put a large pan of salted water on to boil, once boiled add your penne pasta - stirring immediately to prevent it from sticking together. Continue on a rolling boil for approximately 8-10 minutes (depending on the instructions for the pasta). When ready drain the pasta and add this to the mixing bowl along with the dressing and toss together thoroughly. If you don’t have penne pasta available then fusili or similar will do fine.

Serve with final sprinkling of parmesan cheese.