Do you like granola? I like granola. But I hate paying £4 for a box with 3 pieces of walnut and one cranberry. If you’re with me, join me by making your own! And might I suggest you give my granola recipe a try…

It’s really easy to scale your granola making up or down. You can also create your very own granola blend. Once you have the proportions down, anything is possible. Mine is lightly sweetened, but you can amp it up to your taste. More sweetener will also give you bigger clusters. For a vegan version, sub in maple syrup – but use less, as maple syrup tends to taste sweeter.

You can use different kinds of nuts, too. I’ve made it with hazelnuts and pecans, Brazil nuts and walnuts, and have even gone as far as a three-nut combo. Crazy, I know.

Add in your own flavorings – a sprinkle of cinnamon or a few drops of vanilla go a long way. Get creative with your crunchy granola self!

Once you have a vat of toasted granola, you might wonder what to do with it besides shoving it straight into your mouth.

Sprinkle that sweet, nutty, homemade granola on top of plain (full fat obviously) Greek yogurt with jam. Sometimes I go off the deep end into DIY territory, but hear me out. You can turn that yogurt into any flavor you want it to be. Strawberry, apricot, blackberry bourbon… just try telling me dyed-pink yogurt sounds better.

Pour some milk on it, cow or otherwise. Sprinkle it onto ice cream. Put it on a fruit crumble. Tweak your cranachan. (If you have any other suggestions, I’d be happy to try them.)

Feel like everything is out of your control? Start small with granola. Then take that slow-release energy out there and tackle the world.

Crunchy nutty granola

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On the Counter

• 200 g oats
• 75 g nuts
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1.5 tbsp coconut oil
• 75 g dried fruit

What to Do

• Optional first step: Sieve the oat dust from your oats.
• Preheat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3/325F.
• Combine the coconut oil and honey. On very low heat, melt them until the mix is thin and runny. This is especially handy if it's cool in your kitchen or your honey is crystallized. Stir to combine.
• Chop the nuts into pieces about the same size (or slightly larger than) an oat.
• In a large bowl, combine the oats and nuts.
• Drizzle the oil and honey on top, stirring the oat mix as you go. Stir until evenly coated. Dig deep!
• Spread the mix evenly onto two baking sheets.
• Bake for 10 minutes.
• Gently mix in the dried fruit and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Don't let it go further than lightly golden brown.
• Cool before storing.
• Mix your granola into yogurt, on top of ice cream, or enjoy it as a cereal with milk.

7.8.1.2

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https://www.onmykitchencounter.com/2017/02/12/crunchy-nutty-granola-recipe/

Just a little peek…

You never know when inspiration will strike. I seem to like the absurd challenge of figuring out what to make for dinner when I get home and root through the fridge and freezer.

This time, the carrots, carrot greens and a summer cabbage made me think “stir fry”, and the salmon made me think “crispy skin”. Sweet potato noodles that I’d picked up in a past life at a Korean supermarket finished it off. Though since my go-to Korean supermarket has been demolished thanks to the addition of a new train line in London, I’m not sure where to go to replace them. (Any suggestions out there? …Bueller?)

If you haven’t tried sweet potato noodles (in Korean: dang myun), they’re like glass noodles but thicker. They’re chewier and slipperier than wheat noodles, and are really light in flavor so you can enhance them with whatever you want – plus they’re gluten free!

I’ve half-heartedly tried meal planning before, but it just doesn’t seem to work. Sometimes plans come up, or Main Ingredient is missing or has gone off…

But maybe that’s how it should be. I don’t think I would’ve thought of this in front of a google doc spreadsheet. I needed to see to be inspired. Thank you, wizened carrots of the crisper drawer.

Serves: 2

On the Counter

Stir-Fry
320 g (12 oz) salmon, scaled (80 g/3 oz piece per serving)
1 tbsp neutral oil, such as peanut, rapeseed or sunflower
2 large carrots (about 300 g or 2 cups)
2 big handfuls of leafy green vegetables, your choice
1 medium onion (about 110 g or 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic
200 g (7 oz) Korean sweet potato noodles

Dressing
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp red chili flakes
1 tbsp naturally-brewed soy sauce (Kikkoman is my preferred)

What to Do

Combine the sesame oil, chili flakes and soy sauce, and set it aside.

Slice the carrots into matchstick sized pieces, and chop the onion. Chop or tear the greens into bite-sized pieces.

Pat the salmon filets dry and lightly salt them on each side. Make sure it’s been scaled or you definitely won’t want to eat the skin.

Heat the oil in a flat, cast iron or non-stick pan on medium heat until shimmering and hot enough to make a drop of water jump out.

Place the salmon in, skin-side down. Don’t touch it for at least 4 or 5 minutes. You’ll need patience. When it’s ready, you won’t have to put in any effort to get the salmon and its skin out of pan. If it’s not easy to pick up with a spatula, leave it alone. That’s how you get the best crispy skin.

Once your skin is crispy, flip it over and cook for another 2 minutes. Set it aside, covered, or in a low-heat oven.

Cook the noodles in boiling water for 5-6 minutes, until they’re a texture you’re happy with. Immediately rinse them in cool water to stop the cooking process.

While the noodles are cooking, stir fry the vegetables in the pan you used for the salmon. It should take about the same amount of time to cook as the noodles. At the very end, add in most of the spicy soy dressing, and combine it with the vegetables. Save the rest to drizzle on top of the salmon.

Once everything is done, you can mix the noodles into the saucy stir fry, and give your crispy skin salmon a place of pride on top.

Summer! It has been hot here in London the last few weeks. Hot like a Northeast summer, but without the air conditioning and functioning trains. I love every moment of it, though 3 previous European summers have changed me. Humidity is rough, man. On the other hand, there’s no better excuse for overindulging in ice cream, not that I need much reason.

In other news, I have my first UK library card! Cause for celebration. The first thing to come home with me was a cookbook that I’ve been thinking about for a while. I have 3 weeks to leaf through it, take notes and try recipes. Since I love eating at Polpo so much, I’m expecting a lot from this book! Most of the ingredients are easy to find, and the recipes aren’t a million steps and 7 different cooking methods.

So when you put a hot summer together with a new cookbook, something is bound to happen. This time, that something is called sgroppino. It’s from Venice, and it’s a grown up version of a slushie. It’s sweet, tart and refreshing. The word sgroppino comes from the word to ‘loosen’ in Venetian – and if you have a few you might be more loosened than you expect.

To be honest, it barely deserves a full recipe, it’s so easy, but I love organization so here you go:

Serves: 1

On the Counter

1 generous scoop of lemon sorbet
100 mL (3.5 oz) of prosecco

What to Do

Whisk the sorbet and prosecco together and serve in a chilled glass.

If you want it to be more like a dessert and less like a drink, you can split the sorbet and add half back as a scoop after whisking.

At a time in the not-too-distant past, some friends and I were looking for a place to for dinner before a gig, and found ourselves at Prawn on the Lawn, a fishmonger/tiny restaurant in Islington, north London.

All their seafood is sourced from Britain, and they use some of that delicious local production for a small menu of dishes in an even smaller space.

Our table was a barrel (literally), and we squished together, 3 of us, slurping oysters and sampling each others’ main dishes. PS: If you go, have the expensive but absolutely delicious soda bread and butter.

The monkfish and chorizo stew was the inspiration for this recipe, and I have come up with my own version based on what I remembered it tasting of and what I like to eat.

Don’t mind the low-light iPhone photo, but this was some good seafood

In the UK, monkfish are a sustainable species, though they were in trouble for a while. It’s been an interesting ride for the monkfish as a food source. It went from a “trash fish” to “poor man’s lobster” to a delicacy that needed to be protected, and now it’s a sustainable, meaty and generally easy to find fish.

PS: Did you know that monkfish is a type of angler? No wonder you never see a whole one at the fishmonger, they are pretty ugly fish.

This is what happens when you have the time and light to take a reasonable photo.

This stew is hearty and warming, but not so hearty that you can’t enjoy it in the spring… though if you’re enjoying a spring that’s more like summer, you might want to save this recipe for the inevitable cooler days.

Serves: 2 hearty portions/4 with a starter or bread
Cook time: 35 minutes, not including prep

On the Counter

350 g monkfish cut into chunks
50 g chorizo
1 (400 g/14.5 oz) canned tomatoes
600 mL vegetable or fish stock
50 g carrots, about 1 large carrot
1 yellow or orange pepper
1 medium onion
1 stalk of celery
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
fresh parsley, chopped for serving

What to Do

Dice up the vegetables into bite-sized pieces, and mince the garlic. If you’re not very fond of celery, chop it smaller. Also dice the chorizo into 1 cm (1/4 inch) pieces.

Meanwhile, turn the oven on to broil/grill and roast the pepper on each side for 1-2 minutes, until blackened. Once it’s ready, put it in a bowl and cover with a cloth until it’s cool enough to touch. Peel it, removed the seeds and chop it.

In soup pot or casserole pot, heat the oil over medium-low until it shimmers. Add in the celery, carrots and onion until they start to soften, about 5 minutes. Push the vegetables to the side of the pan and add in the chorizo. Fry it, stirring, until it starts melting and browning, another 3-4 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes, breaking up the large pieces with a wooden spoon. Add in the roasted pepper, stock, paprika, red pepper flakes and salt. Stir. Simmer, covered, on low heat for 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes are up, add the monkfish pieces and cover the pot again. Let it cook for another 15 minutes.

Sprinkle fresh parsley in each bowl and serve.

For someone who absolutely despises the taste and smell of anything remotely like aniseed or liquorice, I’m surprisingly coming to appreciate ingredients like fennel seed and caramelized fennel root. I can even tolerate fennel that isn’t cooked down to the point where it just tastes of sweetness!

My slowly growing tolerance for the fennel family is where these meatballs come in. When I first tried them at Polpo, one of my top London restaurants, I was really reluctant, but my dining partner was eager to sample them. I gave in and I’m really glad I did… they were delicious.

They were so good that I have even tried replicating them at home. While my pork and fennel meatballs are not exactly the same (for one thing I make mine a lot smaller), they’re easy to make and delicious. Just as an aside, I haven’t bought the Polpo cookbook (yet), so these are my own recipe, rather than from the book, but I’m eager to compare them.

My favorite way to eat these is with a slow-cooked tomato sauce and spaghetti, though they’re pretty good as Swedish meatballs, too. One of the best things about meatballs is making a big batch and freezing the leftovers for future quick and easy weeknight dinners.

I’ve tested regular and gluten-free versions, which I’ve included in the recipe below. Next trial: egg-free meatballs.

Serves: 8

On the Counter

500 g ground pork
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
1 small onion (1/2 cup or 75 g), very finely diced or blitzed in the food processor
1 egg
50 g breadcrumbs or blitzed gluten-free oats
1 clove garlic, finely minced or blitzed
1 tsp salt

What to Do

Combine all ingredients and squish them together until thoroughly combined. Take enough of the mix to make 2.5 cm/1 in diameter meatballs into your hand, and roll them into a ball. (If you’re worried about the meat sticking to you, rub just a drop of vegetable oil onto your hands before rolling.)

Once you’ve rolled all your meatballs, set 4-5 per person aside if you’re using them for pasta or Swedish meatballs with sides. Take the rest and lay them on a flat baking sheet, then cover it tightly with plastic wrap and freeze them overnight. (The next day, you can just throw them into a zip-top bag and back into the freezer.)

There are 2 ways to go forward with meatballs now. You can sear them in a very hot pan with a little oil, turning them so they brown on all sides. The other option, and my preferred, is to lay them all on a baking sheet in 1 layer, and bake them in the oven (200C/390F) for at least 5 minutes per “side” to ensure browning and consistent texture.

Once you’ve browned them, you can try them in Swedish meatballs, or cooked low and slow in a tomato sauce.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go to the BBC Good Food Eat Well show in London, thanks to LexusUK. It was the first year that BBC has put on an event specifically about healthy eating. It was an interesting day, and better than I expected, though there were even more mushy brown “energy” bars and recipe box delivery services than I could have imagined.

Some of the highlights included trying some amazing hot and cold smoked anchovies from The Fickle Fish, and catching up with Riverford Organics, who I’m already a customer of and pretty much love.

The top moment, though, was getting to spend some time with Gizzi Erskine. If you don’t know her, went from working in a body-piercing shop to becoming a TV chef, and such an interesting person to talk to. For a cooking demonstration, she made a Chicken and Orzo soup that I said I just had to write about on my blog. Obviously it didn’t occur to me to get a photo with her – I think I still need some practice with selfie-ing.

And, with a head cold brewing this week, I could think of nothing more comforting and delicious than a rich, tomatoey chicken soup. Once you start making it, the promise of what’s to come is almost too much to bear. I might be guilty of picking the crispy browned chicken skin off and snacking on it…

I mean look at that browning… how could I resist?

I made a few adjustments to suit my taste and seasonality, like cutting down on the lemon and orzo portions and using canned tomatoes instead of fresh. (There is no way I’m going to find good tomatoes in March.) Check out the original recipe if you want to compare!

Serves: 4 (or 6 if you want smaller portions)

On the Counter

1 liter chicken stock
1 liter filtered water
150g (5.25 oz) orzo pasta (or white rice for a gluten free option)
1 medium free range chicken, cut into 8/10 pieces, or 8 thighs and drumsticks
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 400ml (14.5 oz) can of tomatoes, pureed
2 tbsp olive oil
A few sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
Pinch of dried red pepper flakes
2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves or regular spinach, chopped
Small bunch of flat leaf parsley, desemmed and chopped
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt
Black pepper

What to Do

Heat the oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat until it’s shimmering.

While the oil’s heating, season the chicken pieces on both sides with salt and black pepper.

Fry the chicken, skin-side down to start, in batches until browned on both sides, about 4-5 minutes each side until the skin is brown and toasty. If it’s sticking to the pan, it’s not ready yet.

Take them out of the pan and set the chicken aside.

Lower the heat and add the onion, sauteeing for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently until they’re soft. Add in garlic and red pepper flakes and sautee for another minute.

Stir in the tomatoes and their juices, making sure that there are no big chunks. Turn the heat up to medium-high.

Pour in the chicken stock and filtered water and then add the chicken and thyme.

Cook for 25 minutes, uncovered, until the liquid has reduced by 1cm.

Remove the chicken. and leave it for a few minutes to cool. Pull the chicken off the bone and shred it. Add the chicken back into the soup, along with orzo. Cook for another 10-11 minutes, stirring frequently so the orzo doesn’t stick.  Add the spinach, and stir it in until it wilts. Add the parsley, lemon juice and zest. Serve!

This also makes great leftovers!

England (and maybe the rest of the UK too?) had been in the midst of some really lovely autumn weather… a little rain here and there, but mostly it’s been warm, sunny days. It does mean that the fact that it now starts getting dark around 5 seem strange, especially when it’s still nice enough to sit outside.

A couple of weekends ago, we went for a walk around some of the wooded areas of Surrey, and it was hard to believe that it was really autumn. We had lunch outside at a great local pub, The William Bray, where the food and the beer were both delicious.

Along the way, I picked some chestnuts for roasting, and wished that I knew enough about wild mushrooms to choose between the tasty ones and the deadly ones. I wonder if there’s a field guide to mushrooms somewhere out there that would make me confident enough to try.

There weren’t as many colorful leaves as you’d expect in mid-October.

…but there were still a few prime specimens

I wish I knew enough about mushrooms to pick them and not die.

We did roast the chestnuts I picked, which were sweet and soft right out of the oven. However, we just had to make do with mushrooms that trustworthy people had gone through the trouble of growing and sorting, when it came time for the main course. 

I think the combination of salmon and lentils combines two very different types of flavors – lentils, which can be heavy but very lean, and salmon, which is less dense, but rich and fatty. The leeks add sweetness and green to the plate, and, well, mushrooms taste good.

For any gluten-free readers out there, lentils are often harvested with wheat, so it’s worth being extra-careful and reading online reviews of brands when looking for lentils that will work for you. 

Serves: 4

On the Counter

4 filets of salmon
475 mL (2 cups) vegetable stock
1 leek, thoroughly washed
250 g (1/2 lb) chestnut or cremini mushrooms
175 g (7/8 cup or 6.2 oz) French green lentils (lentilles vertes)
1 garlic clove, chopped
small handful of chopped fresh parsley

Dijon Sauce
4 tsp dijon mustard
8 tsp water
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dried thyme

What to Do

Preheat oven to 200 C/390 F.

Rinse the lentils. Bring the vegetable stock to a boil. If you are using unsalted stock, add 1/2 tsp of salt. Once the water is boiling, add in the lentils and cook according to the package. Green lentils should boil for 10 minutes and simmer for 35 minutes. Drain the lentils.

Meanwhile…

Thinly slice the leeks and mushrooms, but set them aside separately.

Combine Dijon mustard, thyme, water, 2 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp of salt, whisk. Set half the sauce aside.

On a baking sheet lined with foil, place the salmon skin-side down. Cover the salmon with 1/2 of the Dijon sauce. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

On medium-low, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a sautee pan until shimmering. Add in the leeks and stir frequently, until they begin to soften – about 5 minutes. Add in mushrooms, and continue to stir frequently, for another 3 minutes or so, or until the mushrooms begin to soften and shine. Add in garlic and 1 tsp of salt and cook for another minute until garlic is fragrant and soft. Mix in 1/2 of of the remaining Dijon sauce (1/4 of the total), and set aside.

When the lentils are finished, spoon them into a wide-bottomed bowl. Top with shallots and mushrooms, and then salmon. Sprinkle parsley on top.

I’ve seriously been on a smoked paprika kick lately. It’s one of my favorite spices to start with, and I just love smoky flavors, but lately I’ve wanted it on everything! I’ve been trying it with some of my staple dinner ideas, for a bit of a variation, which is how this came to be. It’s quite similar to the baked haddock recipe, but with a bit more smoky goodness and bonus side vegetables.

There’s a shop in Brixton, in south London, where you can bag your spices and all sorts of interesting plant-derived things, and they are my suppliers for smoked paprika. With the opportunity to get as much as I want, I thought I overdid it – but with the speed at which we’ve emptied the first jar’s worth, I think I made out like a bandit, in the end.

If you don’t love smoky paprika (but seriously, how could you not) you can use sweet paprika, or … skip it entirely, though you’ll be missing out. If you don’t love cilantro/coriander on the other hand, just replace it with parsley. While I’m lucky enough that it doesn’t taste like soap to me, I feel for you if it does.

Note: I wouldn’t recommend reheating the fish, as it loses its soft flakiness and just turns rubbery, which is not tasty, no matter how much smoked paprika you put on top.

Recipe note: Add the carrots in first, give them 10 minutes, add the fish, give it 10 minutes, and then add the broccoli for 10 minutes.

Smoky Baked Cod

Serves: 4

On the Counter

4 fresh sustainable cod filets, about 4 in (10 cm) long and 1 in (3 cm) thick (can substitute with pollack or haddock)
6-8 cherry tomatoes
1 banana shallot or 3 regular shallots
2 cloves garlic
5-6 fresh sprigs cilantro/coriander (or parsley), leaves stripped from the stems
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp smoked paprika + 1 tsp set aside
1 tbsp olive oil + 1 tsp set aside
1 tsp cayenne pepper powder

What to Do

Mince the garlic, slice the shallots and quarter the tomatoes. Drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil and toss to combine, adding 2 tsp. of smoked paprika. Set aside.

Chop your herbs of choice. Combine the 1 tbsp. olive oil, cayenne pepper, herbs, 1 tsp. smoked paprika and salt. Coat each fish piece and set it aside for up to 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425 F (220 C).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. If the fish are not well coated in olive oil, drizzle a little onto the paper/foil and lay the fish pieces on top. Spoon the vegetable mix on top of the cod.

Roasted Paprika Carrots and Broccoli

On the Counter

1 head broccoli, cut into florets, without main stem
8-10 carrots (depending on size)
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
6 sprigs cilantro/coriander, (or parsley) leaves stripped from the stems
2 tsp. smoked paprika
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. salt

What to Do

Preheat the oven to 425 F (220 C).

Slice the carrots thinly on the diagonal, about 1 cm thick (just under 1/2 inch). Chop the coriander and combine it with the paprika, garlic, olive oil and salt. Divide the mixture into 2.

In one bowl, toss 1/2 the spice oil with the broccoli. In another bowl, toss 1/2 the spice mix with the carrots.

Line a large baking sheet with foil, and spread the carrots widely. (If you don’t have a big enough tray, you can cook them separately – like I did.)

Roast the carrots for 20 minutes. Add the broccoli onto the baking sheet and roast for an additional 10 minutes.

The best-laid plans…

Lately I’ve come to discover that I’m inspired to blog at the wrong times. I have about 3 or 4 posts in draft form, some with photos, and some just with recipes.

I have some that seem like they would be ready for prime time – until I try to write something about them. Then, I have times when I can’t be bothered to take the camera out for something I’m just whipping up quickly. Of course, lately that means as soon as I take my first bite, I realize I should have been ready to blog about it.

Like in this case. For now, all I have are photos snapped quickly on my iPhone, too hungry to bother getting a photo this time.

But this is the kind of meal I should have had my camera ready for – inspired by a recipe that was inspired by another recipe, and similar to many meals before it.

It also tastes a bit decadent, which, maybe it is, but it has coconut milk … and coconut milk is good for you. And tasty. And dairy-free. And creamy. And usually pretty cheap.

While I can’t say it’s Thai food, I can definitely say that it has Thai-inspired vegetables and flavors, plus some other fun ingredients that don’t sound like they’ll work, but they do. The creamy coconutty chicken sauce, the soft and meaty shiitake mushrooms and the sweet and colorful red peppers all hang out together in harmony.

PS: My Kitchen Counter has an instagram account now! Check me out @mykitchencounter.

Note: If you’re hard-up for star anise, you can skip it, but even for a liquorice-hater like me, it added a nice dimension that I wouldn’t miss out on.

Inspired by the Kitchn.

Serve (over rice, if using rice) with sauce and vegetables on top. Garnish with chopped scallions (spring onions) and cilantro (coriander leaves), and with lime wedges on the side.

Am I a bad blogger? I don’t always have my camera ready for meals, and when I’m hungry, it’s really hard to convince myself to stop, take photos, get the best lighting and take more photos.

Plus there’s the matter of forgetting until everything is finished cooking that I should probably have documented the process.

This meal came from what we had in the freezer and the gentleman’s request for pasta with courgettes. I don’t normally server pasta as a side for fish, usually the fish is mixed in or there’s no pasta at all. It worked pretty well, and I might have to start doing the fish/pasta combination more often.

Also, even though it’s technically 2 recipes in 1, it didn’t take long at all – 15 minutes of cooking time and about 15 minutes of preparation.

We just got back from a series of “aways” for the holidays, including an extended New Year’s at a friend’s house outside of London. This was the first real meal of the year at home, and the first attempt to get back to more sensible eating. (No more buttery garlic bread and cheese for lunch.)

This time of year it’s easy to fall into the trap of making really ambitious resolutions that are almost impossible to live up to, but in the midst of thinking about wanting to buy fewer things, eat healthier, exercise more and learn something new – I’ll stick with the goal of having my camera nearby whenever I cook.

What’s your new year’s resolution?

Serves: 2

Roasted Dover Sole

On the Counter: 
2 filets dover sole
1 large clove garlic, minced
3-4 sprigs dill, chopped
1 lemon wedge (for serving)
salt and pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

What to do: 
Generously season filets with salt and pepper, let rest for 5-10 minutes on an oiled roasting tray.

Preheat oven to 355 F (180C). Brush some more olive oil on top of the filets. Top with garlic and dill.

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and squeeze lemon juice on top. One 1/4 lemon wedge should be enough for 2 filets.

Zucchini and Tomato Pasta

On the counter:
1/2 cup (120 g) whole wheat pasta, Mafalda corta or penne
1  medium or 1/2 large zucchini, cut into chunks
1 large garlic clove, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tbsp olive oil + 1 tsp (set aside)
1/2 tsp crushed chili flakes
1 tbsp fresh herbs (parsley, chives, dill) chopped
1 lemon wedge
fresh parmesan, grated (optional)

What to do:
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a sauté pan until shimmering.

In a salted, boiling pot of water, add pasta and cook for 7-9 minutes, until al dente.

Meanwhile, add onions to hot oil and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Stir in zucchini and cook for 4-5 minutes, until zucchini softens slightly and changes color. Add tomato chunks, chili flakes and 1 tsp olive oil, stir to integrate. Cook for another 3-4 minutes, until pasta is done.

Drain pasta and add to sauté pan, add fresh herbs and the juice from 1 lemon wedge. Toss to combine.

Serve alongside sole and top the pasta with parmesan.