I’ve made Nigella’s peanut butter noodles a lot (A LOT!!) through the years. It’s the easiest ‘instead of takeaway meal’ you can make at home and sooo satisfying. It’s lovely as it is, but when I saw that Deb at Smitten Kitchen added thinly sliced cucumber to her peanut butter noodles I thought I better try that and make sure I’m not missing out on something.

Since I already love Nigella’s noodle recipe and the Smitten Kitchen one seemed more cumbersome to make (the whole point here is ease) I thought I could just add the sliced cucumber to the noodles I usually make and see how that works out. And wow! It’s amazing how the addition of a thinly sliced watery vegetable without that much flavour to it, can take this dish to a whole other level!

When I make the peanut butter noodles I usually omit the vegetables in Nigella’s recipe and I’ve never cared for the sesame seeds, so I just top the noodles with coriander, lime and chopped salted peanuts. So without really trying to, I have changed the recipe enough to warrant an update of it here.

The addition of thinly sliced cucumber (best made using a cheese slicer – not a knife) is now my go-to version to eat it as it adds a freshness to it that’s just amazing together with coriander and lime. But sometimes I also add crispy chillies in oil to the mix as it’s good on practically everything!

Nigella’s peanut butter noodles my way – with sliced cucumber, serves 4

Heavily adapted from Nigella’s recipe.

Dressing:

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 tbsp garlic infused olive oil (or regular olive oil)

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

100 g peanut butter (smooth or chunky)

2 tbsp lime juice

salt and pepper

Noodles:

550 g cooked and cooled egg noodles

To serve:

a handful toasted salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

a bunch coriander, chopped

1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced

4 lime wedges

In a large bowl, mix together the dressing ingredients. Add the noodles and mix well. Divide between bowls and top with chopped peanuts and coriander. Place the sliced cucumber on the side of the bowl and serve with a lime wedge.