Courgette Pasta (Spaghetti alla nerano)
This simple traditional Italian pasta dish, spaghetti alla nerano, with courgettes pan fried in garlic olive oil before being tossed with parmesan and fresh basil, is ready in under 20 minutes, and a delicious vegetarian midweek meal.
Ingredients
- 320 g spaghetti
- 800 g courgettes/zucchini approx 4-5 small - medium
- 50 g parmesan grated (check it's vegetarian parmesan if vegetarian)
- 25 g Pecorino romano grated (check it's suitable for vegetarians if vegetarian)
- 1 clove garlic peeled and halved
- handful fresh basil roughly torn
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- sea salt
- cracked black pepper
- parmesan to serve, optional
Instructions
- Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil.
- Slice the courgette/zucchini into circles around 1 cm (0.4") thick.
- Cut the garlic clove in half and place in a frying pan with the olive oil. Gently heat until lightly golden.
- As soon as the garlic is lightly golden, remove from the pan and add the courgettes/zucchini. Take care as they can spit a bit. You may have to cook them in two batches, depending on size of your frying pan.
- Whilst the courgette / zucchini cooks, place the spaghetti in the water and cook per packet instructions to al dente.
- Turn the zucchini/courgette occasionally until medium brown and blistered. If you turn them too much they won't achieve this - and this adds flavour!
- Once brown both sides, remove to kitchen paper towel on a plate to remove excess oil. (Cook the second batch if cooking in batches).
- Season the cooked zucchini/courgette with a pinch of salt, and black pepper.
- Drain the spaghetti, keeping 1 cup/ 240ml of the cooking water. .
- Tip the cooked pasta into the frying pan you cooked the zucchini/courgette in.
- Add half of the cooked zucchini/courgette to the pan and sprinkle over the grated parmesan, and grated pecorino romano. Add half the torn basil leaves and a couple of spoonfuls of the cooking water.
- Heat over a very gentle heat, stirring, until the cheese has melted. Add a little more pasta water if it's getting too dry - the sauce should be creamy. Stir through the rest of the cooked courgette / zucchini slices.
- Transfer to serving plates and sprinkle over a little more grated parmesan and the rest of the torn basil, to serve.
Notes
Zucchini/courgette – small green ones. Smaller zucchini are generally less bitter. You can use larger ones and cut in half if you prefer.
Spaghetti - you could also use linguine, fettuccine, or tagliatelle.
Garlic - a fresh garlic clove (or 2!) is needed in this recipe, it makes all the difference! Remove the garlic as soon as it become mid-golden brown. It will turn dark very quickly and can taste bitter. You can use 2 cloves of garlic for a stronger garlic taste. I keep it milder for younger family members.
Olive oil – use a good quality olive oil for this recipe.
Fresh basil – adds a fresh perfume to the pasta dish. I recommend you don’t leave this out.
Parmesan cheese – for vegetarians, check your parmesan is vegetarian. You can also use provolone. For a budget friendly alternative, use a strong cheddar – not authentic, but still delicious.
Pecorino remano – this is to substitute provolone, which is traditionally used to make spaghetti alla nerano but is hard to find outside of Italy. Use more parmesan instead if you don’t have it. Don’t use all pecorino as it can make the dish very salty.
Frying the zucchini/courgettes until blistered and dark brown adds flavour and texture to them.
Cook the pasta to al dente – having a little bite to the spaghetti works with the soft zucchini/courgette.
Remember to save the pasta water – this is full of starch that mixes with the Parmesan to make a creamy sauce.
Nutrition
Calories: 498kcalCarbohydrates: 67gProtein: 19gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 296mgPotassium: 720mgFiber: 5gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 524IUVitamin C: 36mgCalcium: 265mgIron: 2mg
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