Noodles With Stir-Fry Curry Vegetables

Oh, how I love noodles!
It’s the Italian love for all pasta mixed with the speed of eastern cooking techniques. What more can you ask for?
I used to bring noodles back from my trips abroad, but in recent years I found them in my local supermarket. I like the plain ones best, with no condiment added, you can prepare them in a matter of minutes and they satisfy both hunger and the desire for something different. What I mostly like about noodles, or it could just be a matter of personal taste, is that they go well with everything: meat, fish, veggies, eggs… They are one of the best main ingredient for my “let’s empty the fridge” meals. Every now and then, especially at lunch time when I eat alone, I check the fridge and see if there are some leftover that need to be eaten shortly. I usually prepare a sandwich or a grilled Panini, or again rice to which I add my leftover after cooking, or re-heating, or stir-frying them. Noodles are one of the tastiest versions to consume what needs to be eaten before it goes bad. I often end up making a vegetable stir-fry, cooking the veggies in my wok with some kind of seasoning, then I add my noodles and lunch is ready in a matter of minutes. The most time consuming job you have to do when preparing this dish is chopping the vegetables. I like doing it, it’s one of those repetitive tasks that let your mind be free and while I cut and wash the veggies I silently plan my afternoon. Once all of the ingredients are ready then the kitchen becomes alive with its sounds: the boiling kettle, the sharp sound of the noodles when broken in half before being put in a bowl, the oil sizzling in the pan when the vegetables are put in, the wooden spoon scraping off the sides of the wok while stirring the veggies. Your meal is ready in less than 10 minutes. Satisfactory, isn’t it?
Here is what I used today to make my noodles.

• ½ courgette
• 1/4 red pepper
• 1/4 yellow pepper
• the light green bit of 2 leeks
• 1 handful of pumpkin dices
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 piece fresh ginger
• 1/3 of a 250g pack of dry noodles
• curry powder
• salt

Cut the veggies in small sticks and grate both garlic and ginger after peeling them. I used a fancy little grater I was given as a wedding present the first time Andrea and I got married. Should I say “we” were given as a wedding present even if it was clearly intended to me, the official chef in this home? Well, we’d better leaving these matters of properties and language pertinence, and let’s go back to the recipe. Break the noodles in half and put them in a bowl. Heat the wok, add the oil and put the kettle on. Stir-fry the vegetables in the wok and mix them frequently with a wooden spoon. As soon as the water is boiling pour it over the noodles, cover and let on a side for 5 minutes.  Add the curry powder and a pinch of salt to the veggies, and then, just before adding the noodles, add the garlic and ginger. You shouldn’t add them too early because they’re liable to burn and ruin the dish. Drain the noodles, add them to the wok and stir-fry for a couple of minutes, just enough for all the ingredients to be combined. Serve. It couldn’t be easier don’t you think?