Cold Courgette Pasta

Two weeks ago, I went to Paris to see a System of a Down concert, right in the middle of a heatwave. That night, back at the hotel, inspiration struck out of nowhere. I woke up in the middle of the night and mumbled at my boyfriend to remember it for me: the recipe stuck in my head was cold courgette pasta. Zero idea why, zero idea how — I just adore cold pasta, and I basically think about food non-stop, apparently even mid-concert.

This one came together exactly as it appeared to me that night: a blended raw courgette and basil sauce, poured cold over pasta, topped with cherry tomatoes and feta. No stove required beyond boiling the pasta itself — perfect for a heatwave lunch.

Cold Courgette Pasta – About the Dish

Courgette (or zucchini, depending which side of the Atlantic you're on) has quietly become a summer staple in both French and Italian kitchens, prized for how much flavour it can carry once blended raw. Treating it as the base of a cold, pesto-style sauce — with basil, garlic, olive oil — borrows lots from the classic Genovese pesto, with a hit of anchovy for umami and a dash of lemon + lemon zest to make it FRESH SO FRESH, EXCITING.

The result sits somewhere between a cold soup and a sauce: bright, herbaceous, faintly spicy, and cold enough to make a heatwave bearable. Add short pasta, juicy cherry tomatoes and salty feta, and you've got an absolute banger of a meal without almost zero heat.

Cold Courgette Pasta – Recipe

Ingredients – Advice & where to find them

• Courgettes: use them raw — no need to cook. Two small ones or one large (350–400g) is enough; pick firm, glossy ones with no soft spots.
• Tiny anchovy fillets: they melt into the sauce and mostly add depth, not a fishy taste. Good quality oil-packed fillets make a real difference here.
• Garlic: one large clove is plenty when used raw — start with less if you're sensitive to raw garlic.
• Basil: 25–30g, about 30 leaves. Fresh only — this isn't a dried-herb situation.
• Lemon zest: use an unwaxed, untreated lemon if you can find one, since you're using the skin directly. This step matters more than it looks.
• Gochugaru: Korean red pepper flakes, smoky and only mildly hot. Easily swapped for Espelette pepper for a milder, French-pantry version.
• Pasta: any short shape works — fusilli, penne or casarecce all hold the sauce well.
• Feta: go for a block you crumble yourself rather than pre-crumbled — it holds its texture better against the cold sauce.

Blending & Serving Tips

• Blend the sauce until completely smooth; add a splash of cold water if it feels too thick to pour.
• The two ice cubes go straight into the blender — that's what gives the sauce its cold, just-made freshness, no fridge time needed.
• Cook the pasta, then rinse it briefly under cold water and drain it very well — leftover water dilutes the sauce.
• Toss the pasta and sauce together in one big serving dish -easy peasy, and pretty, too.
• Add the tomatoes, feta, olive oil and gochugaru only at serving time, so everything keeps its own texture instead of turning mushy.

And that's it! Dig in.