Zucchini Pasta
Zucchini Pasta with basil is a must-make recipe with excess zucchini. Inspired by the now-famous spaghetti al Nerano of Ristorante Lo Scoglio on the Almalfi coast (and made famous by Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy)
Zucchini is the real star of this pasta recipe; it almost melts into the pasta, making it the most flavorful summer pasta recipe.
The recipe was inspired by the now-famous spaghetti al Nerano of Ristorante Lo Scoglio on the Almafi coast. It comes from the new cookbook, Italian Coastal, by Amber Guinness.
Amber’s passion for Italian cuisine and culture shines through in these delicious, achievable recipes that bring Italy to your table. Which, you know, speaks to my Italian heart! While the book itself isn’t plant-based, there are so many recipes that celebrate the bounty of a Mediterranean diet– vegetables, beans, whole grains, olive oil, and more.
One reason the original recipe from Lo Scoglio is so indulgent is because they use a variety of cheeses and the zucchini is deep-fried before the sauce is cooked, making it creamy and meaty at the same time.
Which, is great if you are ordering it in a restaurant but a lot to make a home, so this method gently shallow-fries the zucchini, using both sliced and grated zucchini.
This process is much quicker and results in a lovely meaty texture without needing a deep fryer.
I do find that a wok or large, shallow-bottomed pan is best for frying the zucchini and then having enough room to toss the pasta with it. This is the wok that I use, and it’s been one of my favorite purchases for my kitchen—I use it over and over again!
Ingredient Notes
You’ll need roughly 2 pounds of zucchini for this recipe. To get the zucchini flavor in every bite, you are going to slice the zucchini and then also finely shred the zucchini. Lightly pan-frying, it maximizes the zucchini texture and ensures the best bite each time.
From there, you only need pasta, garlic, olive oil, chili flakes and fresh basil. As the saying goes, it if grows together, it goes together and the pairing of basil and zucchini is summer bliss.
You’ll also need parmesan cheese, which adds in more salty and umami flavor. For my dairy-free friends, you can sub in a vegan parmesan cheese or consider my homemade vegan parmesan. However, I will say that the dairy parm melts into the pasta, which is hard to replicate with a vegan option.
How to Make this Zucchini Pasta
Prep the zucchini
Slice the zucchini and shred the zucchini. Prepping the zucchini ahead of time will make cooking this recipe easier.
Fry the Zucchini Rounds
Heat olive oil in a large skillet and add the zucchini rounds and fry until golden brown
Add the shredded zucchini
Add the shredded zucchini and basil and cook until reduced. Add in the pasta along with some pasta water and toss to coat the pasta in the zucchini sauce.
Finish and serve
Turn off heat and stir in the parm cheese and additional chopped basil and red pepper flakes, if desired.
Tips for Success
Long pasta, like spaghetti and linguine are best for this recipe. The zucchini becomes very silky in the sauce, and clings to the long pasta. I don’t recommend subbing another pasta shape, if possible.
Parmesan can clump up if added to hot pasta, so I like to turn the heat off the pasta, add the parm cheese, and then vigorously toss to coat all of the pasta.
Make sure to salt your pasta water before cooking! Salting the pot of water flavors the pasta as it cooks, reducing the need to add in excess salt. I always taste after I add the parmesan cheese to see if I need more salt.
If you try this zucchini pasta sauce, make sure to come back to leave a comment and a rating. Your feedback helps other readers!
Zucchini Pasta
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz) zucchini
- Olive oil, for pan-frying and to serve
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 large bunch of basil, leaves picked and roughly torn
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lb spaghetti or linguine
- 5 oz parmesan, ~2/3 cup, finely grated, plus extra to serve
Instructions
- Chop the tops and bottoms off the zucchini and separate into two equal piles. Cut one pile into rounds about 2 mm (1⁄16 inch) thick. Grate the rest of the zucchini using the large holes of a box grater (if you don’t have one, cut into fine matchsticks).
- Meanwhile, heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a wide frying pan over a medium heat and gently fry the garlic and chili for a couple of minutes. Once the garlic starts sizzling, add the zucchini discs and toss with the oil and garlic, making sure they are all well coated. Leave the zucchini to fry for 5 minutes before turning to cook on the other side for a further 10 minutes, tossing occasionally. You want the discs to brown.
- Add the grated zucchini, basil (reserving a little for garnish), another 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Allow to cook for another 5 minutes, then pour in half a glass of water (about 150 ml/5 fl oz). Reduce the heat and leave to cook gently while you prepare the pasta.
- Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta, give it a good stir so that it doesn’t stick together, and cook until al dente according to package instructions.
- Halfway through the pasta cooking time, add a couple of ladlefuls of the starchy pasta water to the zucchini mixture; increase the heat slightly to allow the water to amalgamate into the sauce.
- Drain the pasta (reserving a mugful of the cooking water in case you need it), then add to the zucchini sauce with a drizzle of olive oil and toss to combine. Remove from heat and add in the parmesan cheese, tossing continuously until well combined. Top with extra parmesan, a few grinds of pepper and the reserved basil. Serve immediately.