Ever want to get your money’s worth from the attachments on your food processor? Or make use of the choppers with the 38 year guarantee and a one time hospital stay and a free piece of meat that you buy on late night television?
Make a nice pasta with zucchini trifolatti. Scrub the zucchini well, and plunge under cold water. You will need about 8 small, tight looking zucchini for 9 ounces of pasta. Run them through the thinnest slicing option, or get out your knife and show off your stuff. Heat up a large, heavy, high sided saute pan. Drizzle with olive oil and add 4 cloves of garlic that have been cut in half. Let them go golden. Remove. Add 8 leaves of clean, fresh, dry basil and a few leaves of parsley. Let them go dark green. Remove. Add the zucchini along with a 1/2 piece of lemon zest and a few red pepper flakes (teeny weeny bit, unless you like it spicey–I usually add about 1/8 teaspoon just to pop up the flavor.) No salt yet–just the squash. Let it go over a medium flame until the bottom layer gets a little golden with NO STIRRING. Once you see gold, stir, and give it a good dash of salt. Add the garlic and herbs. Turn the flame to medium low and let it saute until completely wilted and soft. Boil a pot of salted water for the pasta (try De Cecco) and cook until al dente. Smash up a few of those garlic cloves with your knife and add them back into the pan. Discard the others. Save a few tablespoons of the cooking water. Drain well and stir in the zucchini. If you need a little extra liquid, add the reserved water. Give the pasta a good drizzle of your best olive oil and a shower of Parmigiano Reggiano. Rip in a little more fresh basil. Pour yourself a glass of crisp white wine, and pull the love up from your heels and right through your heart and shoulders before you sit down to eat.
xoxoxoxo