When I buy zucchini, I find that it is incredibly easy to let it rot.  Because my grocery store is so far away, I only make it there once a week and the zucchini is almost always the last thing that gets used up.  What are you going to do with a zucchini that you haven’t already done; plus, just looking at a zucchini could make you start snoring.

Nothing new happened last night.  I made zucchini with pasta, but I gave myself the challenge of making it the best I have ever made in my entire history of making zucchini with pasta.  I got out the old baguette from yesterday, and sliced into thin rounds to bake off at 400 degrees under the broiler.  When they came out, golden and gorgeous, I drizzled them with olive oil and salt.  I heat up a heavy saute pan and drizzled in more olive oil.  I finely, finely diced a quarter of an onion (red or yellow is fine) and sauted it for about five minutes.  I pushed it to the side and added 3 medium cloves of very thinly sliced garlic and about 9 fresh basil leaves that had been ripped in half.  I added a half sprig of rosemary, a pepperoncino (or a few red pepper flakes) and stirred everything together once the garlic looked like it was going the tiniest bit golden.  I seasoned with salt and a little freshly ground black pepper.  Next I got the pasta water onto the boil and seasoned it with salt.  I got the wierd bits off of the zucchini (happens when you leave anything in the fridge too long) and sliced it paper thin.  I added the zucchini to the onion and turned the heat up to medium high. When the water was at a full boil, I added about 1/2 of a box of De Cecco pasta.  In my mortar and pestle, I smashed about another 12 to 15 basil leaves.  When they were completely smashed, I stirred in olive oil with a fork, and seasoned with salt.  I stirred the zucchini, looking for a little bit of browning, but mostly for them to be completely cooked through.  I smashed the toasted bread slices with the fingers, grated a little lemon zest, smashed a half clove of garlic, and stirred this into them.  Right before I thought the pasta was done, I drained it, reserving about a quarter cup of the cooking water.  I tasted the zucchini for salt and pepper, and removed the pepperoncino (I use a whole one) and the rosemary sprig.  I tossed in the pasta with the zucchini, and added the smashed up basil.  I tasted again for salt and added a few little spoonfuls of the cooking water to make the pasta creamy.  (you could add a squeeze of lemon juice as well if you wanted.) I got it out onto a platter and sprinkled the top with some of the bread crumbs.  Absolutely de-lish.