Pasta Alla NERANO | Spaghetti With Fried ZUCCHINI

Summer is on its way out, but zucchini are still in season. So we're gonna make pasta all'anerano, or spaghetti with fried zucchini. Maybe the best summer pasta ever. And a quick note, if you can find the smaller, firmer variety, that's ideal. But here we go. I'm just gonna slice the zucchini into thin wheels. And you know where to get one of these, right? Fortune table, they're down in the description. I'm giving you 15% off, so go get yourself one. Or anything else you might like. And in the meantime, I'm also gonna heat up the oil. I'm gonna use enough olive oil to cover a layer of zucchini. I'm also gonna grate my cheese so it's ready. The original dish is made with a cheese called provolone del monaco, but it's pretty hard to find, so I'm just using some parm. And I'm using the smallest teeth on the grater, because the finer the cheese is grated, the easier it is to emulsify. And I'm gonna use about this much for one serving. The oil is now hot enough, so I'm gonna carefully lower in my zucchini. And you really wanna separate them so that they don't stack up on each other. I'm also gonna throw in a couple of crushed cloves of garlic. That's gonna flavor the oil. Okay, so you wanna cook these at a high enough temperature so that they brown up before they start getting mushy, but not too high so that they burn. Now, I can see that the garlic is starting to pick up color, so I'm gonna fish it out before it burns. These are really nice snacks. You can give them a check. Once they start picking up some color, you can start flipping them. And at this point, you have to pay really close attention, because zucchinis are delicate, and they can go from perfect to burnt really, really quick. Once they've browned up nicely on both sides, I'm just gonna carefully strain them. Now, I poured a little bit of water in the pan, and I'm throwing it back on the heat. And I don't know if you can see, but the water has picked up a little bit of color. Basically, I've deglazed all those bits that have come off from the zucchini while frying. And since I'm gonna cook the pasta inside that pan, I might as well use that free flavor. I'm gonna throw the spaghetti in and cover them with less water than I think I'll need, but enough to cover them. I can always top it up with more water, but I don't want to start with too much, because my idea is that I'm gonna reduce it all down. I'm also gonna add a pinch of salt. And again, I don't want to add too much, because I'm gonna reduce all the water down. Plus, the parmigiano is also salty. As you can see, the water has almost entirely reduced down, but there's still some left. Now, these are not really al dente yet, but that's exactly what I'm looking for. I'm gonna throw in the zucchini, and I'm gonna cook them with the spaghetti for the last couple of minutes, so that they almost start to break down and flavor the sauce. I'm also gonna add a touch more water. You want it a little bit looser, because it's gonna tighten up on the plate. Then I'm gonna kill the heat, and I'm gonna stir in two cold knobs of butter. I'm also gonna throw in the cheese and some fresh basil. I'm gonna finish it with some more parm and a little bit more of that zucchini oil. I'm sure a little bit of black pepper won't hurt either. Ah, this is so incredibly creamy, but not heavy at the same time. It's super savory, and the zucchini give it almost a little bit of a meatiness. This one is a slapper. It's the flavor of summer in a pasta dish. So go give it a try while the zucchini are still in season. Roll out!