Student Suppers: Pasta with Courgette, Lemon and Chilli

I think it has been forever since I posted a 'Student Suppers' recipe, but then again it has been a long Summer! I'm finally back into the swing of cooking myself easy student meals, so I thought I'd kick the academic year off with something fresh, simple and cheap that you can make a massive pot of at once and eat cold for lunch throughout the week. Just a recap for some of my newer readers, Student Suppers is a series of recipes I do with cheap ingredients that are really easy to cook, and either serve one or can be made in big batches so it can stretch out for a couple of days, perfectly suited to students, but equally as delicious for everyone else too!

I adapted this recipe from the BBC Good Food iPhone and iPad app, which I think is one of the best paid recipe apps out there, and I really think is worth the money. I have been cooking BBC Good Food recipes out of their monthly magazine, then off of their website for as long as I can remember. I love that this takes about 15 minutes to prepare with little or no skill involved, but in the end it looks stylish and sophisticated and tastes elegant with clean flavours and a little after kick from the chili. The original recipe does not have as much lemon as my version does, and it was made with linguini; but I felt pasta was more leftover friendly - with these ingredients I had a big bowl as a meal then two more medium portions for lunch the next two days.

• 1 Average Size Bag Fusilli Pasta Shapes
• 3 Medium Sized Courgettes (Zucchini)
• Dried Chilli Flakes
• 3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Large Garlic Clove
• 1 Lemon
• Handful of torn Basil Leaves
• Freshly Ground Salt & Pepper 

Put the pasta on to cook in a large pan of water. While the pasta is cooking grate the courgettes on the biggest grater you can find into a bowl. Follow by grating the zest of the lemon. Chop the garlic clove into fine pieces. When the pasta is cooked strain the water away and add it to the pan, followed by the grated courgette and lemon rind, the garlic, the basil and a very large pinch of the chilli flakes. Add the olive oil, lots of freshly ground salt and pepper, and cut the lemon in half and squeeze over half of the juice. Stir well over the heat until the courgette is coating all of the pasta, and serve.  

What are some of your favourite pasta dishes to make for supper, then have cold the next day between classes?