Zucchini Orecchiette
I like to think of this pasta like the adult version of buttered noddles with cheese. The base of the pan sauce is, you guessed it, butter and cheese, but the inclusion of zucchini, arugula, and pine nuts makes this dish into more of a meal and more socially acceptable to eat for dinner, while still being as comforting as buttered noodles.
Servings 4 people
Equipment
- Large saucepan
- Large skillet with high sides
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 medium zucchinis, thinly sliced
- 300 grams orecchiette pasta (3½ cups)
- 57 grams salted butter (1/4 cup)
- 3/4 - 1 cup pasta cooking water
- 60 grams finely grated parmesan cheese
- 2 large handfuls arugula
- 20 grams toasted pine nuts (2 tablespoons)
- Sea salt
- Fresh black pepper
Instructions
- Heat a large pan over medium-low heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the hot pan and swirl to coat. Cover the bottom of the pan with a single layer of sliced zucchini and season with salt and pepper. Fry for about 3 minutes, then flip, season, and fry for a further 3 minutes. Transfer the fried zucchini to a plate. Repeat with another batch until all the zucchini has been cooked.
- While the zucchini is cooking, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add the orecchiette pasta and cook for 2 minutes less than the package instructions suggest.
- Add the butter to the pan the zucchini was cooked in. There's no need to rinse out the pan first. Once the butter is melted and starting to sizzle, add 1/4 cup of pasta cooking water. Stir and bring to a simmer.
- Transfer the cooked orecchiette to the butter and pasta water, stirring well to coat. Add 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese, stirring to incorporate. Now, alternate between additions of pasta water and Parmesan until all the cheese has been added and you’ve used 3/4 cup pasta water. The goal is to create a glossy, creamy sauce that coats the noodles. If you want to thin out the sauce, you can add an additional 1/4 cup of pasta cooking water.
- Transfer the zucchini back to the pot and stir it into the pasta. Season with sea salt and black pepper to taste. Add two large handfuls of arugula to the pasta and fold it in to wilt.
- Serve the pasta immediately, topped with the toasted pine nuts.