Pasta alla Nerano

Pasta with a creamy zucchini sauce (with no cream added!) and delicious little fried zucchini medallions.

Ingredients:

3-5 medium or small zucchini squash

2-3 cloves of garlic

olive oil for frying

salt

one pound of pasta (spaghetti or linguini recommended)

1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan or 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

the zest of one lemon

Directions:

Wash and slice zucchini into 1/4-inch rounds. Set a pot of salted water to boil for the spaghetti. While the water is heating, put the olive oil into a pan and cook the garlic cloves on medium heat until golden. Remove the garlic and save for later. Now add your zucchini rounds to the oil in a single layer and fry, turning occassionally, until nicely golden. Remove onto paper towels and sprinkle with salt as they cool. Continue to cook the zucchini in batches until all the zucchini is done.

When the water boils, cook your pasta until al dente. Before draining the pasta, reserve 1.5 cups of the pasta water. Drain the pasta and set aside.

In a blender, place half the fried zucchini, 1-2 cloves cooked garlic, 1/2 cup pasta water, lemon zest, and the cheese or nutritional yeast. Puree until smooth and add more water if needed. Taste for seasoning, and adjust.

Return the zucchini cream to the pan and add the pasta and the rest of the fried zucchini rounds.. Gently toss together over low heat until warmed through. Add a little more pasta water if the sauce gets a little too thick.

To serve, plate a portion of pasta with a sprig of basil and a sprinkle of your cheese or nutritional yeast.