Spaghetti alla Nerano

Hi hi hi. HI!

 

It has been… two and a half weeks instead of one. I have been a busy preoccupied girl.

 

When something’s on my mind, that requires immediate attention, meals take a different meaning. Either they bring me warmth and much needed distraction – a moment to focus on a task with a tasty reward. Or they are a bland afterthought. I rush through the instructions, forget half the ingredients at the shops… twice.

 

The last couple of weeks have been more harrowing then the usual autumnal glum late October brings around. The sharp turn from spring to deep fall always feels like a shock, and a personal attack! But this year mother nature is not my only attacker.

 

I find sun and fire in my activities, creations with friends, daily trips to the coffee shop. An old lady who loved my accent thanked me for helping her translate a sentence or two. She paid for my apricot jam croissant and silently left a smile on my face!! It was so sweet. As was my croissant. Pleasantries and pleasantness. And my coffee tastes sweeter and fuller than usual. Maybe because I sat next to a coffee enthusiast for an evening and was taught the correct way to sip my warming drink.

 

I am a big chatterbox, with an experience of 23 years in the industry. I have 12 school reports chock full of descriptors to prove it: talks when I’m talking – won’t stop rocking on her chair, – she’s a distraction – had to move her to the back row. But storms like these can-do wonders to the extrovert predilection.  They are louder than even me – little miss ‘what’s an inside voice?’. So I stay rather silent, and wait for the thunderclouds to ask me why I’m sopping wet and freezing.

 

I’m being vague. That’s the pretentious way of being passive aggressive: vaguely poetic nonsense. SO back to food.

 

I made this meal for a warm pick me up. Pasta alla Nerano. So utterly simple. Crispy courgettes, pasta, and cheese. Tastier than you’d think when you put it together in just the right way. Bored of your usual pesto pasta? Give this a little go. I did, and my lunch was perfectly filling, savoury in just the right way. It was cold and crisp outside and this did just the trick to toast me up.

 

– SERVES 4 –

About 16ft oz sunflower oil or vegetable oil, or, if you choose, olive oil 8 to 10 small zucchine (courgettes)

75g chopped fresh basil

Sea salt to taste

Extra virgin olive oil

500g spaghetti

200g grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

 

  • Put the sunflower oil in a large pot and bring to a low boil over medium-high heat.
  • Slice the zucchine into thin rounds and fry in the oil until they are golden brown. Remove and set aside on paper towels.
  • Sprinkle with basil and salt.
  • Transfer to a bowl and drizzle liberally with olive oil.
  • Boil the pasta until al dente and strain, reserving about two cupfuls of the pasta water.
  • Place the cooked pasta in a large pan or pot over low heat along with the zucchine mixture and combine gently. Add the pasta water, a little at a time, to create a creamy texture. You may not use all of the pasta water. Now add some of the Parmigiano to the mixture and continue to combine by stirring gently and tossing. When the mixture has a slight creaminess, remove from the stove and serve immediately.
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