Seared Courgette & Carrot top Pesto Pasta
In what will forever be known as the great courge-pocolypse of 2021, I mixed up a tray of pumpkin seedlings with one of courgettes. I ended up with no less than 11 courgette plants and roughly 6 million courgettes. If using up all your courgettes was an olympic sport, I would be here for it.
While others may try to hid their excess courgettes in baked goods and soups, I don’t have any need to hide them. I love seared courgettes just on their own. The kids, though, need a little convincing. This carrot top pesto is one of our favourites. I am not a huge fan of basil based pestos, so this is a nice alternative for me - garlicky and fragrant and uses up something that would normally be composted.
We are nearing the end of courgette season here and we are all a bit courgette weary, but this is a nice one to pair with a pudding of the carrot and marmalade cake for a full harvest feast.
This recipe was supposed to be in issue 04 of Life in the Making Quarterly, but sadly got cut for pages. You can find the full issue 04 here:
Seared Courgette & Carrot top Pesto Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 300g carrot tops
- 60ml (about ½ cup) olive oil
- 50ml lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
- 75g (about ½ cup) Parmesan or hard Italian cheese alternative
- 1 clove of garlic
- 20g salt
- FOR THE PASTA:
- 500g fusili pasta, cooked.
- 2-3 courgettes, cut in 1cm(½ inch) rounds
Method
- Place the ingredients for the pesto in a food processor and mix well. You may need more or less olive oil.
- Heat a skillet on the stove with a small amount of oil. Place the cut side of the courgettes down and sear for 2-3 minutes until they start to turn brown. Repeat on the other side.
- Let the courgettes cool.
- Mix the pasta, pesto and courgettes together in a large bowl. Serve hot or cold.
