Recipe

Rigatoni with zucchini and chilli

Give your dinner a healthy kick.

Jun 18, 2021 2:00pm
  • 30 mins cooking
  • Serves 4
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Spice up dinner with this fresh and healthy pasta. Packed full of zucchini and chilli for an extra kick. It's quick, easy and ready in no time.
Looking for more vegetarian pasta recipes?

Ingredients

  • 8 zucchini flowers with stems attached (150g)
  • ¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
  • 6 small green zucchini (540g), sliced thinly crossways
  • 400 rigatoni pasta
  • ⅓ cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil, extra
  • 2 fresh long red chillies, sliced thinly
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • ¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
  • ½ cup (40g) finely grated parmesan
  • 180 grams buffalo mozzarella, torn

Method

  • 1
    Discard yellow stamens from centre of zucchini flowers; trim stems. Cut zucchini flowers and attached stems in half lengthways.
  • 2
    Heat oil in a large frying pan over high heat; cook all zucchini, in batches, for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until just tender. Transfer to a bowl; cover to keep warm. Reserve pan.
  • 3
    Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender. Drain, reserving ¾ cup (180ml) of the cooking liquid. Return pasta to pan; cover to keep warm.
  • 4
    Add extra oil to reserved frying pan; cook chilli and garlic over medium heat for 3 minutes or until chilli is softened. Stir in parsley and rind. Add oil mixture to pasta in pan with zucchini and parmesan; toss well. Add reserved cooking liquid as necessary. Transfer to a large warmed serving bowl, add mozzarella; toss gently to combine. Season to taste.

Notes

This recipe is spicy, add as much of the chilli as is suitable to your heat tolerance.
This recipe is best made just before serving.
You can use bocconcini instead of the buffalo mozzarella, if you prefer. Some cheeses may contain animal rennet; check labels carefully for
non-animal rennet cheeses, which are now widely available in supermarkets.

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