This won’t be on the table quite in the time that it takes to cook the pasta, but with the right equipment it’s a furgeddaboudit sauce that’s quick to assemble in the pan and rewards a bit of slow cooking.
The vital bit of kit needed here is a mandoline, one of those blades which makes incredibly fast work of creating fine slices of vegetables. The idea is to slice the zucchini so thin that they eventually start to dissolve and amalgamate in the pan – not much fun with a knife, but the work of seconds with a mandoline. You can get fancy countertop ones that can create all sorts of funky shapes, but unless you have a vast kitchen or insatiable gadget lust it’s overkill. A handheld one that you can bung in a drawer and the dishwasher without worrying about assembly instructions will get used a lot more (I like the OXO Good Grip version, which has three thickness settings and a lock).
I used bacon, because that’s what’s available here. Smoked is better than not, pancetta would be better still, and thick cut speck would be ideal (and a lot more authentic to boot).
Pasta with zucchini and bacon
Serves 2
- 3 courgettes
- 1 shallot
- 3 rashers bacon
- Olive oil
- Grated pecorino romano or parmesan
- Penne or other short pasta for two (between 60 and 100g per person, depending on pigginess)
Chop the bacon roughly and begin to sauté in a frying pan with a little oil over a medium-low heat. Meanwhile, chop the shallot finely and add that to the pan too.
Wash, top and tail the zucchini. If you like you can peel them too, which will make a finer sauce but lose the vitamins – your call. Mandoline them straight into the pan on the finest setting, stir to coat everything and then cook until the zucchini start to colour and break down into green gooey strands. This will take longer than you think, at least 25 minutes, and the longer you give it the sweeter and more unctuous the sauce will be.
Cook and drain the pasta, put it back in the pan with the sauce, combine well and serve with lots of grated cheese and extra olive oil.
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