Tagliatelle with Zucchini

This has to be a first! I'm actually putting a recipe in my blog on the very day of my show. (Who knows, I may do it before the show some day. Watch for earthquakes, floods and the Second Coming when that occurs. haha, lol rs.)

If you listened to the show today, you'll recognize this picture as today's Quick Fix that I got from a woman in the Jamie Oliver forum. Mada, an older woman from Friuli (a region in the Northeastern most part of Italy) gave me this recipe several weeks ago. Unlike the traditional Quick Fix, hers included homemade tagliatelle, a thin-cut fresh pasta, as does mine. I figured since I had a tagliatelle cutter on my pasta machine, I'd go the extra mile and go for homemade.

Like I said on the show, though, you can use dry packaged fettuccine or linguine. But better yet, try one of the packaged egg pastas made by Italian companies such as DeCecco.

Tagilatelle with Zucchini

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

One 1/2-inch slice of pancetta, cut into thin slices

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon of red chili flakes or 1/2 Calabrian dried pepper, chopped (optional)

2 medium zucchini, grated through the large holes of a box grater

Salt

2 zucchini blossoms, torn into pieces

1/3 pound of dried pasta or homemade tagliatelle made with one egg and about one cup of flour.

Grated Pecorino cheese

Heat olive oil in 10-inch skillet and fry pancetta until it starts to get crispy. Add garlic and optional chilies stirring so as not to burn the garlic.

Add grated zucchini and turn everything over several times. Let cook for a few minutes adding salt and turning again.

Remove from heat and add zucchini blossoms.

Cook pasta until al dente, drain well and mix with sauce. Serve with grated cheese.

Serves two.