Spaghetti alla Nerano

Fried courgettes rested for hours, then melted into an emulsion with aged provolone.

Not vegetarian — contains parmesan whose rennet the source does not name, provolone whose rennet the source does not name.

Ingredients

• 1 kg courgettes, sliced into thin rounds
• 400 g spaghetti
• 200 g provolone del monaco, grated
• 60 g parmesan, grated
• a large handful of basil
• 700 ml sunflower oil, for frying, which is poured off
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1.5 teaspoons salt

Method

1. Slice the courgettes thinly and FRY THEM IN DEEP OIL at 170C in batches until gold and limp. Drain on a rack and salt them.
2. NOW LAYER THEM WITH TORN BASIL AND LEAVE THEM AT ROOM TEMPERATURE FOR TWO HOURS, or overnight in the fridge. The basil perfumes the oil still in the courgettes, and this rest is the step that makes the dish — used straight from the pan they are just fried courgettes.
3. Cook the spaghetti and keep plenty of its water.
4. Warm the courgettes in a wide pan with the olive oil, crushing about half of them with a fork so they begin to make a sauce.
5. Add the drained pasta and a ladle of its water, then take the pan OFF THE HEAT and add both cheeses in handfuls, tossing hard between each.
6. OFF THE HEAT IS NOT OPTIONAL. Aged provolone over a flame splits into strings and oil, and no amount of stirring will bring it back. The pan's residual heat plus the starch water is what emulsifies it.
7. More basil, and serve immediately.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes