From the tiny Amalfi fishing village of Nerano to good old Balham, since the garden of my friends’ new house is a breeding ground for mint.
This is deeply inauthentic – I haven’t used basil and I have used lemon because I like the way it offsets the mint. I’m sure you wouldn’t toss the courgettes in flour in Nerano, but I like the colour and edge they take on.
If you’re in a mood for celebrating courgettes - and who isn't? - top this with the fried courgette flowers in the Pornstar Martini Courgette Flowers recipe. Dot the pasta with any remaining ricotta you haven’t used up in the flowers.
Serves 4.
1 tablespoon plain flour
2 cloves garlic, sliced
100ml olive oil
8 baby courgettes, sliced into medium rounds
20g butter
70g pecorino, grated
Juice and zest of half a lemon
Handful of mint, picked and roughly chopped, reserving a few leaves for garnish
(If making courgette flowers, remnants of the ricotta)
300g spaghetti
Make the fried courgette flowers from Pornstar Martini Courgette Flowers, if using.
Toss the courgette rounds in a bowl with the flour and season with salt and pepper.
Warm the olive oil gently in a wide pan with the sliced garlic.
When golden, remove the garlic with a fish slice and fry the courgette rounds until tender and just crisped on the edges. Remove from the oil and set aside.
Boil the pasta according to packet instructions, with a good pinch of salt.
Drain, reserving a mugful of pasta water.
Remove the oil from the frying pan and (without heating) add the cooked pasta to the pan.
Toss the pasta rapidly with the butter, the pecorino and the lemon juice.
Add pasta water, little by little and beating quickly, until you have a clingy sauce.
Toss in the mint and stir to combine.
Dot with ricotta (if using), add the courgette, the lemon zest and a good grind of black pepper and top with mint leaves and the courgette flowers (if using).