I’ve been coming across a lot of recipes on Instagram lately. It probably has to do with the fact that I spent 1/3 of my free time there. But I also noticed that it’s a place where people (including myself) like to post pictures of recipes that they’ve tried. More than Twitter or Facebook, it’s a great way to get the word out about delicious food.

Which brings me to this spelt spaghetti. Whoa. That’s all I can say. As soon as I saw a picture of the bowl of pasta on Lucy & Lentils’ Instagram page, I was sold.

This pasta combines spelt spaghetti (which is similar to regular spaghetti), basil pesto, sauteed tomatoes, peas and spiral zucchini. Spiral zucchini? you’re probably asking. I asked myself the same question.

It turns out that to make perfect spirals, you need to own this tool called a spiralizer. More power to you if you have one. I don’t, so I just used a julienne peeler and then swirled around the strands in a small bowl to give them their shape. Maybe I’ll invest in a spiralizer soon, though…I’m thinking that I could do some crazy things with orange peels.

Anyway. This pasta reminds me of spring. Put a poached egg on top, and sprinkle with some fresh oregano and basil leaves and you’ll have a dish that looks as pretty as it is delicious.

This song was playing when I put finishing touches on the pasta. I’ve really been into Anderson Paak the last few weeks. I think his lyrics are clever, and I like the line in this song, “She told me she had game so we connected like the wifi.”

Spelt Spaghetti with Pesto and Spiral Zucchini (adapted from Lucy & Lentils)

Ingredients

For the spaghetti:
1 package of spelt spaghetti
1 medium zucchini
1 medium free range egg
small handful of cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup peas (frozen is fine)
pesto
olive oil
salt and pepper
dried basil, thyme and red pepper flakes
fresh basil and oregano leaves
shaved Parmesan cheese for topping

For the pesto:
2 cups of fresh sasil
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
3 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

First, spiralize the zucchini. Put the strands in a small bowl, sprinkle a little salt on top and leave it to one side.

Then, prep the tomatoes. Cut them in half and add them to a small pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Add the herbs and cook for around 10 minutes. Remove them from the heat.

While the tomatoes are cooking, make the basil pesto by combining all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulsing until smooth.

Bring a medium pan of water to boil and add the spelt spaghetti and cook for according to the directions on the package. A few minutes before the pasta is done, add in the frozen peas and the zucchini strands to soften them up.

Right before the pasta is done, bring a pan of water to simmer and poach an egg.

Drain the pasta and return it to the original pot. Add the pesto and tomatoes. Place the poached egg on top and add crushed black pepper, oregano and basil leaves.