the shape of jazz to come

that's what ornette coleman called his debut album, released in 1959. a horribly presumptuous title - if only it weren't so very true. the first cut, 'Lonely Woman', might be my favorite piece of jazz ever.

it's the music that was stuck in my head while I made this dish. a dish of a summer still to come.

late july is the season of the courgette (or zucchini. both words have a slightly different feel, just pick the one you're in the mood for), be it the shiny stacks of them given away almost for free at the store, or the fast-growing crop in your garden. this pasta dish is a great way of dealing with the abundance of them - and it's fast and easy to make, too. I made it for myself, dining alone, but it's very easy to multiply for two, three or four.

the one trick to this dish lies in the way the courgettes are peeled. you take a vegetable peeler and peel long strips from the top to the bottom, going round and around, until you reach the inner core of seeds (and those you chuck out), so that the shape of the courgette resembles the shape of the pasta in the dish - linguine, tagliatelle. I must have picked this up somewhere, but I have no idea where exactly. nigella? I honestly can't remember.

the smaller courgettes are (within reason), the tastier they will be. dutch shops seem to have not really caught on to this fact (maybe they think people won't recognise smaller courgettes for courgettes, and won't buy them?), but try to go for the smallest, firmest courgette you can find.

boil some water in a fairly large pan, and while it's getting to the boil, peel one or two courgettes in the way I just described. cook your pasta according to the instructions on the packet, mixed in with a good dose of common sense. and a couple teaspoons of salt. any type of flat, long pasta will do, but I found this pasta that was a little broader than tagliatelle, mafaldine, and it was great. while the pasta is cooking, heat some oil in a frying pan, and when the pan is hot, add the courgettes. they won't need long, maybe a couple of minutes, until they're vibrantly green and Al Dente. when I made this last week, I added some dried thyme to the courgettes. the taste was wonderful, but the thyme itself got a little crunchy. I have not tried this dish with fresh thyme, but I have a feeling it could be something wonderful. drain the pasta, and in a serving bowl, mix the pasta and the courgette. grate some lemon zest over it, and give it a good squeeze of lemon juice. you could finish it with a glug of good olive oil, some salt, maybe even some pepper (though I didn't, and I have a feeling it would be somehow intrusive), some grated parmesan, some torn up basil leaves... all, or some of the above, whatever you have on hand. don't leave out the lemon zest and juice though, they really marry the courgette with the pasta, and make the dish taste of summery summery summer.

- anne