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Courgetti, Roasted Garlic and Smoked Paprika

Serves: 4

Deliciously crunchy and wonderfully colourful, this totally veggie recipe is just as good as an appetiser or as a side dish for a main course of grains or with a beautiful vegetable bruschetta.

• 6 courgettes (approx. 1.2 kg/2.6 lb)

• 1 large head of garlic

• 5 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 2 tsp smoked paprika

• Salt, pepper

1 Detach the garlic cloves without peeling them and place in a small ovenproof dish. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook for about 20 minutes at 210°C/410°F/Gas 6-7. Leave to cool.

2 Prepare the courgetti: wash the courgettes and cut them into spaghetti. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a wok or the same sort of pan, put in the courgetti, season with salt and pepper and stir-fry for a minute and a half, then leave to soften for 3 minutes off the heat.

3 In the meantime, peel the garlic cloves, mash 6 of them with a fork with the lemon juice, smoked paprika and the remaining olive oil, mixing until fairly smooth. Gently stir into the courgetti.

4 Serve immediately with the remaining garlic and, if you wish, toasted sunflower seeds and/ or a few fresh basil leaves.

How to make vegetable noodles/spaghetti

Clémence Catz, author of Vegan Pasta, explains how best to make vegetable pasta.The most classic and easily adaptable kinds are tagliatelle and spaghetti. Make them in several ways:

• Use a mandoline: Most mandolines have special julienne blades that let you make perfectly even slices. By running the chosen vegetable lengthwise over it, you’ll have beautiful spaghetti in no time. They’ll be a bit stiff at this stage but will soften when cooked. Even without the perfect blade, you can still set your mandoline to a fairly thin thickness; slice the vegetable into strips (watch your fingers!), then cut tagliatelle to the desired width or, if you’ve got the time and the energy, into spaghetti.