Enjoy the final taste of summer with this simple zucchini pasta
Zucchini pasta is the easiest and most delicious meal of late summer. The pasta is served on Heirol's deep Smooth plate.
IF YOU'VE EVER grown zucchini, you know that timing is everything. A delicious and flavorful baby zucchini can turn into a large, tasteless baseball bat in the blink of an eye. Tiny, four-inch zucchinis are true gems, perfect for picking from the garden or finding at the market, and they shine in this fantastic pasta recipe from actor Stanley Tucci's memoir.
For this recipe, it's best to use the tiniest zucchini from your garden. Fiskars' Norr steak knife works perfectly for slicing vegetables as well. The napkin is from Tameko.
This pasta dish has inspired numerous articles with writers delving into the perfect ingredient ratios and techniques for cooking zucchini. This might be because this is a simple recipe with flavors that exceed the sum of its parts, and the right preparation makes the pasta truly delicious.
There’s no need to deep-fry the zucchini; instead, pan-fry them in about an inch of oil until golden brown. Adding plenty of basil will give the pasta a refreshing lift. Make sure to use high-quality pasta and Parmesan cheese, and seek out the smallest zucchini available. If you can only find larger ones, remove the soft, seedy center before cooking.
The original recipe uses spaghetti, but you can also make the pasta with linguine. The tray is by Skagerak, and the kitchen tongs are from Alessi.
Sharp-eyed readers might notice that while the recipe calls for spaghetti, the photos show linguine. Zucchini clings more effectively to linguine, which is like a flattened version of spaghetti. However, this is to personal choice, but to stay true to the original recipe, this version also suggests using spaghetti.
You can prepare the zucchini in advance by frying the slices and storing them in the fridge, so when it’s time to cook, you’ll only need to boil the pasta. If you prefer a bit more texture, leave the zucchini slices thicker. Some versions suggest slicing the zucchini very thin, but remember that then it will take longer to fry all the slices.
Parmesan, basil, and your choice of beverage complete the pasta dish. Open the wine bottle with Alessi's corkscrew, and serve the wine from Hem's Fars glass drinking glass. The pepper mill is from Stelton, and the cutlery is from HAY's collection.
Spaghetti con zucchine alla Nerano (for 4 people)
Ingredients:
500 g pasta
6 tbsp oil
6–8 small zucchinis (total 500–700 g)
1 bunch of basil
150 g Parmesan cheese
Salt and black pepper
(1 tablespoon of butter)
Instructions:
Slice small zucchinis into thin rounds and fry them in a layer of oil about 1 cm deep until golden brown. Place the fried slices on a paper towel to absorb most of the oil.
Grate the Parmesan cheese and pluck the basil leaves from their stems.
Boil a large pot of well-salted water. Once the water is boiling, drop the pasta into the pot and give it a quick stir to keep it from sticking together.
While the pasta is cooking, peel one garlic clove and lightly crush it. Place the garlic and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and heat until the garlic sizzles in the oil. Add the zucchini slices and stir. Add a couple of ladles of the pasta cooking water to the frying pan and mix. Season with salt, black pepper, and a small knob of butter.
When the pasta is still al dente, reserve a couple of ladles of the pasta cooking water. Add the pasta to the zucchini pan and, over low heat, gradually stir in handfuls of Parmesan cheese and the reserved pasta water to create a creamy sauce. Add the basil leaves to the pasta.
Plate the pasta and grate more Parmesan cheese on top. Serve immediately.
See also:
• All tableware >
Published on 20 Aug, 2024
