Zucchini (the saga contiues)

Like I said on Monday's show, I am not yet sick of zucchini and I fear the end of the season. Yes, I usually like to eat what's in season until I'm so sick of it that I can't stand to face it again....until it comes in season the next year. Not so with zucchini. When it is fresh, I will eat it and weep on that day when I see that the plants in the garden are not going to produce even the tiniest, scrawniest little squash. But I will not live in the future here knowing that there are a couple months of wonderful fresh zucchini yet to come.


That's but one of the joys of living in Sonoma County. When my sister back in Michigan is pulling out her vines to magically transform into something wonderful over the winter in the compost heap, I will joyfully be picking zucchini, tomatoes and eggplant out of my garden, when her leaves are turning orange, our naked ladies will be exposing their pink beauty.

I am going to start out with the recipe for the picture above as it has turned out to be my favorite way of eating zucchini this summer. In fact, it is what I will be having tonight having just finished kneading my pasta dough. This recipe comes from a member of the Jamie Oliver Forum who lives in Friuli, a region of Italy located in the Northeastern-most part of the country.


Pasta with Zucchini ala Mada

3 coves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2-1/2 inch slices of pancetta

Pinch of chili flakes or 1 Calabrian dried chili, chopped

5 or 6 medium zucchini, washed, trimmed and grated through the large holes of a box grater.

Salt and pepper to taste

Several zucchini blossoms, if available.

.75 pounds dried pasta (fettuccine seems a good choice for this or if homemade, tonarelli.)

Pecorino cheese for the table.


Heat water to boiling in a large pot. If using dried pasta, add about 10 minutes before the sauce is done.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add pancetta and saute until it just starts to crisp. Add garlic and chili flakes sauteing very briefly just until garlic starts to color.

Add grated zucchini and mix everything well. Cook, turning from time to time, until zucchini is tender. Season and dress the pasta. Sprinkle torn zucchini blossoms over the top.

This next recipe is one that was probably my favorite a few years back. After I made it the first time, I found myself being requested to repeat it several times over the course of the summer. Considering how delicious this turned out to be, I was more than happy to comply. This does take some waiting time so you may want to plan part of your day around it. Although the original recipe calls for using fussini or spaghetti, I am particularly fond of fussili bucati, which unfortunately, I have only seen made by De Cecco.

Pasta with Fried Zucchini Sauce

1 1/2 pound zucchini
Salt
12 fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup all purpose unbleached flour
Vegetable oil for frying
3 garlic cloves, peeled
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (Plus more for serving)
1 pound pasta such as fussili or spaghetti

Cut zucchini into sticks 2 1/2 inches long and 1/4 inch thick.
Sprinkle liberally with salt, toss and place in a colander to drain for a few hours.
Remove zucchini and dry on towels.
Coat zucchini with flour and place in a strainer or a clean colander and shake off excess flour.
Pour 1/2 inch of oil in a pan, add garlic, heat and when very hot, add enough of the zucchini sticks to loosely fill the pan frying until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels or a rack. (Remove garlic when it starts browning.)
Cook pasta in plenty of salted, boiling water.
While pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a large skillet. Pour drained pasta into skillet and turn several times. Add zucchini, torn basil leaves, cheese and turn again.
Serve with extra cheese.

For the next recipe, I would suggest sticking to the recipe pretty much the way it's written. I did try to play around with it last week and came up very very short of what it should have been. With everything I've said about the superiority of homemade pasta, the boxed version definitely does have its place. (I would not trade a plate of good old spaghetti with a good tomato sauce for a lot of things.) I decided to try the following recipe with some homemade pappardelle, a wide noodle, with disastrous results. That was "cooking for the bin" at its finest!


Pasta with Zucchini, Ricotta and Basil

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 or 4 medium zucchini, rinsed, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch dice

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 pound penne or other cut pasta

1 cup good quality ricotta cheese

1 cup basil leaves, torn up plus a few left whole for a garnish

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt.

Put olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add zucchini along with a large pinch of salt and several grindings of fresh black pepper.

Cook until zucchini begins to brown and then lower the heat and continue cooking until it is tender.
About 5 minutes before it is done, add pasta to the boiling water.

While pasta is cooking, put ricotta and half the basil in a bowl that you will serve the pasta in.

When the pasta is done, drain reserving about 1 cup of the liquid using it to thin the ricotta to a sauce-like consistency.

Add pasta, zucchini, remaining basil, cheese and gently but thoroughly mix well. (Garnish with a sprig of basil.)

Although I announced that the show would be about zucchini sauces for pasta, I realized that nothing is written in stone and that I couldn't pass up a recipe sent by a listener and friend for fried zucchini flowers. Like I mentioned on the show, the last time I made fried zucchini flowers they were so terrible I had to throw them out. (As I soon did with the recipe.)

I fried some zucchini blossoms for the first time. They were GREAT. The batter was very simple - 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup white wine, 1 egg.

This next recipe is one that I really like and must admit that it takes a little time and so I don't make it quiet as often as I do, say the quicker pasta recipes. But these Zucchini-stuffed Crepes
are certainly something that will impress your friends the next time a dinner comes up for which everyone must bring a dish to pass. Just a note on making crepes. They are dead easy to do. It's just the first one or two and never want to come out exactly right. Not to worry, you can even use those first couple "mistakes" in this recipe and it will be fine. I speak from experience.

Zucchini-stuffed Crepes

1 1/2 pounds zucchini

1 pound ripe roma tomatoes

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1/4 pound boiled ham, minced fine

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 pound Italian fontina, chopped

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Butter

Crepes (recipe follows)

Cut an 'x' on stem end of tomatoes and drop into boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain, peel and coarsely chop.

Dice zucchini into 1/2 inch cubes

In a large skillet (12 inches) put onions and oil and turn heat to medium and cook until golden.

Add garlic and continue cooking until it, too, has lightly colored.

Add ham and stir together. Add zucchini, turn all ingredients again and turn heat to medium high cooking until zucchini has browned.

Add salt and pepper and tomatoes turning the heat to high after this last addition and continue to cook for another 15 minutes stirring frequently.

Pour contents of pan into a bowl and add the fontina and half the grated cheese and mix well.

Turn the oven to 450°F and butter bottom and sides of a baking dish.

On a work surface, lay a crepe flat and spread top half with 2 tablespoons of the filling. Fold the bottom half to meet the top forming a half circle. Fold sides in half to form a triangle and set in baking dish with the curved side down. Repeat with remaining crepes and filling.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the crepes and dot with butter. Bake in uppermost part of oven for 20 minutes until a golden brown crust starts to form.

Crepes

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/3 cups milk

3 eggs

Salt

2 or 3 tablespoons butter

Put flour in bowl and pour milk in a thin slow stream all the while beating with a fork to avoid making any lumps.

Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition and adding a pinch of salt in the end.

Place 1/2 teaspoon of butter in an 8-inch pan a put on medium low heat.

Stir batter and pour 1/3 of a cup into the pan moving it so it spreads over the entire bottom.

As soon as it is firm, turn with a spatula and cook other side until it, too is firm.

Repeat with remaining batter stirring before adding to the skillet.

I know that there are a zillion recipes for zucchini bread out there and that everyone probably has her own favorite. But what would a show about zucchini be with talking about this seasonal favorite? It's probably the way many of us first enjoyed zucchini. (Notice I didn't say "ate.") I got this recipe online several years ago and it is my go to recipe for this old annual favorite.

Zucchini Bread

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

2 cups grated zucchini

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Beat eggs, oil and sugar until light. Add zucchini and vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and stir into other mixture. Fold in walnuts

Grease two loaf pans divide the batter between them. Bake @ 325°F for 1 hour or until a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted comes our clean. (Try this with cream cheese instead of butter on top.)

My Quick Fix last Monday was something I had in Sicily a few years back and has remained one of my top ways to enjoy summer's zucchini with pasta.

Spaghetti with Tuna Sauce

1 28 0z can plum tomatoes
2 cloves garlic smashed
few sprigs of fennel tops (wild if you can get them)
2 tsp sugar
1/2 lb zucchini (peeled and diced)
1/3 cup olive oil (plus more for frying zucchini)
1 small can (80 grams) of good Italian tuna (drained and flaked)
salt to taste
1 pound spaghetti
Pass tomatoes through a food mill and put in a pan together with garlic, fennel, sugar and olive oil. Simmer for 15-20 min. and fish out garlic and fennel
Meanwhile, saute diced zucchini in olive oil until golden and season with salt.
Add zucchini to sauce and heat through and then add tuna.
Mix sauce with finished pasta and serve.
Although it's a no-no to use grated cheese with fish, we can't help but love us our pecorino!

Zucchini Hanger-on From Last Week

While cleaning out files today, I noticed a recipe that I forgot to include...Mexican Zucchini.

As I stated on the show, I haven't tried this recipe but I can certainly vouch for it and the book it came out of...Mexican Cooking by the California Culinary Academy. Woefully, the book is now out of print. What's even sadder is that this was only one of their books that I purchased. They used to have them available at Falletti's market which is, sadly too, now defunct.

I'm very grateful that I have this one as I've not found a recipe in it that I didn't absolutely love.
So, without further bravado or delay, here is the recipe.

Zucchini with Chili and Cheese

Half an onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbls butter
1 tomato, chopped
3 large green mild chilies, roasted, peeled and seeded and chopped or 1 4-oz can diced green chilies
1/4 tsp dried oregano
3 Tbs water
1 pound zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1/3 cup grated jack cheese

In a large skillet, saute' onion and garlic in butter until soft. Add tomato, chilies, and oregano and cook until the tomato is soft. Stir the water into the vegetables and add the zucchini. Cover and cook until the zucchini is tender.
Sprinkle the cheese over the vegetables, cover and cook until the cheese is melted. Gently stir in cheese and serve.

Three Blogs Full

I can't believe it took three blog entries to get all the recipes in this week. I thought I'd better get this finished before Monday catches me without all the various dishes I wanted to do. So, here goes: This first recipe is one that Megan left on the desk at the station for me last Monday. (Sweet)
It's what she likes to do with what she calls a "monster size squash."
Megan's Monster Zucchini Steaks

Slice squash 3/4-1 inch thick, rub with olive oil, sprinkle with (garlic) salt and pepper and grill like a steak.
"Zuc steaks for the meat free..."

In addition to that, Megan also suggests shredding, salting, rinsing and squeezing the water out of zucchini and adding to pancake or waffle batter. Now that's a great way to sneak a vegetable into the diet of picky eater in the house! lol

I think the only recipe left from the show is one for zucchini fritters. I really hope you'll try these. Very tasty and a great way enjoy your zucchini.

Zucchini Fritters

1 pound of small zucchini (NOT football size!)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley
1 medium size clove of garlic, minced fine
1/2 cup freshly grated parmigianno reggiano cheese
3 eggs
1/4 cup dry, unflavored bread crumbs plus more to spread on a plate
Salt
Pepper
Oil for frying

Clean zucchini and grate through the large holes of a box grater. Place in a bowl, sprinkle with the 1/4 teaspoon of salt and let set for several minutes to release its liquid.
Squeeze water out of zucchini, discarding the water and returning the zucchini to the bowl to which you will also add the parsley, garlic and cheese.
Beat eggs and add to mixture.
Add bread crumbs, pepper and salt to taste.
Mix well.
Form patties about 3 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick.
Fry in hot oil.
Serve them plain or with your favorite marinara with either parmesan or pecorino cheese.

Zucchini Relish

As much as I love many zucchini recipes, there is something very special about zucchini relish.

Being a hard nosed traditionalist at times--I still haven't forgiven the people who are responsible for putting out the remake of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album back in the 70's--so it's no surprise that I was more than just a little sceptical about anyone even considering replacing the beloved pickling cucumber in pickle relish with something they grew too much of in the garden that year. That was until I found myself standing in those garden clogs looking down at the bumper crop in our garden with no end in sight. But what was the worst that could happen? It would turn out to be something absolutely awful and I would never make it again, ripping that page out of my canning book! Humble pie never tasted so delicious!


10 cups chopped zucchini (if very large, remove seeds)
4 large onions
4 green bell peppers cleaned and seeded
4 red bell peppers cleaned and seeded
1/2 cup salt
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Grind all vegetables using the coarse blade of a food grinder or use food processor.
(If using the latter, be careful as you want to maintain a coarse texture.) Put the ground vegetables in a stainless steel bowl or crockery. Add salt and keep vegetables submerged by weighting with a plate. Let stand overnight.
The next day, drain off the brine and rinse with water. Drain again and squeeze out excess water by hand.
Mix cornstarch with sugar and spices and add to vinegar in a pot large enough to hold the liquid and vegetables. Heat liquid to boiling and stir until syrup is clear.
Add vegetables and simmer 30 min.
Pour into hot sterilized jars leaving 1/2 inch headroom. Put on lids and bands and process in hot water bath (185f/85c) for 15 min.

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Zucchini 101

Why is it that people have so much zucchini year after year? You'd think that seasoned gardeners would know that you don't need many plants to supply you, your friends, your family and complete strangers with enough zucchini to make them completely sick of that elongated gift from the garden until next summer when you plant too much of it again. Do our brains hibernate in the winter causing us to forget that a few seeds equals a few zillion squash, that we will again this year (like we have in all the years past since we've grown this in our garden) look under one of those fan like leaves and see a monstrous fruit that has grown to the size of a small dog and is no longer fit for anything other than a doorstop?


I can't stop you from growing too much zucchini this year--it's way too late for that seeing how July is fast on it's way out and August looms ahead--but I will try my doggonest to broaden the possibilities beyond the 25 loaves of zucchini bread taking up every space in your kitchen while you try to figure out what to do with the dining room table groaning under the weight of squash plus what's still in the garden. And, yes, I'll even include a very tasty recipe for zucchini bread in a future blog.


The first recipe I'm going to offer is about as American as one could get. It's one of those get-your-family-to-eat-their-vegetables recipes. It's also so easy that you've got to try it once even though you may have to buy a box of America's favorite baking mix.


Zucchini Casserole


4 cups peeled, chopped zucchini


1 cup Bisquick


2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese


1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted butter

1 egg


Salt and pepper to taste


Mix all ingredients in a bowl and pour into a buttered 8x8-inch baking dish.


Bake at 350f for 30 minutes.



I know I should have started out this blog with appetizers and then moved on to the other courses but this is a blog and not a cookbook. Still, I will move on to what has turned out to be the appetizer of the summer in this house thanks, in large part, to the utilization of an herb that has taken over our property for the last several years but which I have only started to use this summer.


It must have been four or so years ago that Jim, inspired by our trip to Italy, bought an herb to plant in one of the corner planters of a bed, an herb which he only knew was "for cooking," one which I'd neither heard of or ever used. There it sat year after year. No, I'm wrong. It didn't "sit." It spread. It explored. It put down roots. Put down roots in the fertile and the rocky. The moist and the dry. It made the mint look like homebodies. The oregano, shrinking violets.


What's more, it had an odd smell. It couldn't decide whether it wanted to be mint or oregano. It wasn't until I started watching David Rocco's program Dolce Vita that I discovered what our mystery herb was.

An herb resembling oregano in looks (mint and oregano in taste and smell), Nepitella comes from the Tuscan region and finds its way into mushroom and eggplant recipes. But a little inspiration coupled with an unexpected bag of zucchini proves to find another use for our little invader. When I asked Jim for a couple (this means "two" in most circles) zucchini and he brought back a couple pounds, I knew I had to make plans unless I wanted to see them shrivel like little green mummies in the crisper pan. This brought me back to the scapece I'd been making last summer. Although it had been around forever, scapece was brand new to me and I soon came to love it. Jim didn't seem to mind it too awfully but it was the mint involved that put him off. (He hates mint in anything savory.) It was then that I saw the opportunity for an end to the zucchini dilemma, a compromise to Jim's fussy attitude towards mint and the forest of Nepitella which was slowly yet surely invading the entire landscape of West County Sonoma.

Instead of using mint to nestle the deep fried discs of zucchini in, I would substitute the leaves of the Nepitella plant. This proved to be a winning idea. I hope you'll take the time to make this Italian treat this summer. If you can't find Nepitella, use mint or a combination of half mint and half oregano. Also, this does not use many exact measurements but calls for a sprinkle of this and a pour of that. You'll see. It turns out good every time.

Zucchini a Scapece


1 pound of medium zucchini

Salt

Olive oil

1/4 cup of torn Nepitella, mint or mint and oregano leaves.

2 garlic cloves, smashed

Red wine vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

Place garlic and herbs in a bowl.

Clean zucchini, cut off stem and blossom ends and cut into very thin rounds about the same thickness as a coin.

Sprinkle zucchini slices lightly with salt, toss and place in a colander to drain for 30 minutes.

Dry on kitchen or paper towels

Heat an inch of oil in a pan and heat until very hot. (A disc of zucchini should immediately start to sizzle. If it sinks to the bottom, the oil is not hot enough.)

Fry in batches until light brown on both sides turning once.

Remove with slotted spoon to the bowl into which you've put the garlic and herbs.Sprinkle with a little of the vinegar and toss with the garlic and herbs.


Repeat with the remaining zucchini.
Add a few grindings of freshly ground black pepper, a little extra virgin olive oil and mix again.

These can be made a day ahead and kept in the refrigerator. Bring to room temp before serving.






Monday

July 18, 2011

As I mentioned on the show today, when I first came out to California, I landed in Santa Moncia where I spent the first five years as a Cal resident. It was there that I discovered deep-fried vegetables of which my absolute favorite was the battered and fried zucchini sticks that the Santa Monica Cafe served. Being a mid western boy, my batter-fried veggie experience was limited to drive-in onion rings. (Still something that I love and crave but unfortunately am less and less able to find. Well, I find them but all too often, I wish I hadn't.) It must have been someone else in our party, during one of those many times I frequented that establishment, who ordered the fried zucchini sticks because I was still in the mindset that zucchini was something that you put in a sweet quick bread. Of course, the scales fell from my palate the first time I tasted them and they became part of my regular order there.







Fast forward five years and I found myself living in San Francisco where I attended San Francisco State University. My palate (and my pocket book) took me on the short excursions to Chinatown where a few days worth of food could be had for a few dollars. To my delight, I found that other parts of the city held gastronomic treasures for very little money as well. And none was so welcome as the Sunday and Wednesday farmers' market at the Civic Center which was transformed into an exotic mix of east and west on those days. Next to the exotic one could always find the familiar. Like fresh zucchini just picked that morning. Just the sight of a pile of it on a table with the dew still clinging to it and a drop of sap shining like a pearl on the stem from its recent departure from the vine, brought back that ache for the treat I'd discovered back in Santa Monica. But the feeling was magnified by the freshness of the squash. I knew these would make even better ones than the ones I'd had back there.

OK, they could have been better than the ones served at the Santa Monica Cafe if I had been able to get the right batter ingredients. Boxed mixes were just OK but not all that good. And the recipes I ran across were very disappointing. I used everything from egg yolks, to beat egg whites to seltzer water with pretty sad results. Then I got it. "It" was a cookbook by Marcella Hazan. I don't remember if it was her first or second but it had the quintessential recipe for batter-fried zucchini. And what's more, it couldn't have been any simpler.

Batter-fried Zucchini

1 pound zucchini, washed, trimmed and cut into sticks about 4 inches long and 1/2 inch wide.
1 cup water
3/4 cups
Oil for frying
Salt

Heat about an inch and a half of oil to a very hot temperature. (around 375f).
Pour water in a bowl and with one hand, sift flour over the bowl while whisking with the other until you get a batter the consistency of thin pancake batter.
Dip zucchini in batter letting excess drip off and fry in hot oil turning once as they brown.
Remove with a slotted spoon to a dish with paper towels. Salt immediately.
Serve with favorite dipping sauce. (Mine happens to be blue cheese dressing.)

Homade Hooch

OK, the title is more than a little tacky. It's downright vulgar! To say that this weeks' guest, Julianne Zaleta of alchemologie, makes hooch is like saying Paganini "sawed the fiddle." Julianne has taken the cocktail and transported it back to an era of elegance and art, to a place reminiscent of the Paris of Post-WWI, to a zinc-countered bar that The Lost Generation would have felt comfortable in, would have welcomed with the same love of creativity that has found its way into the cocktails Julianne and her group of artist friends are concocting during their soirees.



Her curiosity and passion have turned into a workshop for the senses. (She also makes perfumes and scents.) And at times I get the feeling that essences, the extracts, the flowers, roots, drinks and perfumes all cross over into each other's worlds.a world. Yet with all the bottles and vials and mixtures there is a distinct sense (that word again) of decisiveness and purpose.



Reading back over this, I see it is only my own whirling perception. To get a better perspective on what she's doing and dreaming, I invite you to read her blog. http://alchemologie.blogspot.com/




In the meantime, I'd like to offer a recipe for an Italian liqueur she passed on to me.


I have yet to tackle this amaro (Italian liqueur) but am hoping it turns out to be half as good as one I was introduced to in Sicily, Averna.

Italian Herb Liqueur (Liquore di erbe)

* 200 ml alcohol 95%bv
* 500 ml water
* 400 g sugar
* 6 bay leaves
* 1 sprig of rosemary
* 10 mint leaves
* 10 chamomile flowers
* 10 sweet basil leaves
* 10 lemon leaves
* 15 sage leaves
* 3 cloves
* 3 saffron filaments

Steep botanicals in alcohol for 20 days. Add sugar syrup. Strain. Age for 4 weeks before consuming.

My modest contribution to the show came via a second cousin living in Illinois. Alice comes from the side of the family with all the characters, the Krumpens. (I like to think I have a lot of Krumpen in me. hehe) In addition to being a little odd and a lot fun, we also find that our favorite room in the house is the kitchen. Alice can cook with the best of them but she can also scare up a pretty good drink and make a tasty concoction that she calls a Cherry Bounce.
I will confess that I have only made this with fresh sour cherries but I think any good flavorful cherry would work just fine.

Cherry Bounce

2 cups fresh red cherries, not pitted.
2 cups sugar
1 quart vodka, or rum or any booze (Alice's directions :) )

Put in a jar in a brown bag. Keep in dark for 3-4 months. (Shake occasionally.)
Serve in cordial glasses with one of the cherries.

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.