Spaghetti with zucchini, broad beans and olives

By: Gabriel Gaté
From: Recipes for a Great Life
Serves: 2
Photographer: Greg Elms

To my mind, there are few things as comforting as a bowl of spaghetti, and I particularly like this recipe, which is full of gutsy flavours. I try to keep the amount of oil in the sauce to a minimum, though, and I feel that 70–80 g of dry pasta is enough for one person.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
100g	broad beans, shelled
2 tablespoons	olive oil
2	small zucchinis, cut into 1 cm slices
150g	spaghetti
2	sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
1	garlic clove, finely chopped
2	anchovy fillets, chopped, (optional)
10	small black olives, pitted
2 tablespoons	parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons	parmesan cheese, freshly grated, to serve (optional)

Method

Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Add the broad beans, return the water to the boil and blanch for 1 minute. Drain the beans and refresh them briefly under cold running water. Drain again and peel.
Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and sauté the zucchini for 3 minutes over a medium heat.
Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil and cook the spaghetti in boiling water until al dente.
Add the broad beans and sun-dried tomatoes to the frying pan with the zucchini and stir until everything is warmed through. Add the garlic, anchovies (if using), olives and chopped parsley to the pan and stir briefly.
Just before serving, toss the drained pasta with the vegetables. Serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese (if using).