Maccheroni with Zucchini

Name: Maccheroni with Zucchini
Yield: serves 6 as a ¿rst course or 4 as a main course
Ingredients: 1/4 teaspoon toasted saffron threads (see box, page 243); 4 or 5 small, firm zucchini (about 1 1/2 pounds total, or 1 pound zucchini and 24 fresh zucchini flowers); 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil; 1 cup chopped onion; 3 cups or so hot water or light poultry stock; 1 cup finely chopped scallions; 2 teaspoons kosher salt; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley; 2 large egg yolks; 1 batch (1 pound) Homemade Maccheroni alla Chitarra (page 236); 1 cup freshly grated pecorino (or half pecorino and half Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano, for a milder flavor), plus more for passing; Extra-virgin olive oil, best-quality, for serving; A large pot, 8-quart capacity, for cooking the pasta; a heavy-bottomed skillet or sauté pan, 12-inch diameter or larger

December 9, 2011

In this recipe, careful cooking brings out the wonderful flavor of fresh zucchini to make a lovely dressing for maccheroni (or other pasta). Select small, firm zucchini, though—preferably right from the garden!—and if you can, pick, or purchase, zucchini flowers at the same time. They make the dish especially festive. As the name all’Aquilana suggests, this has distinctive touches of the cooking of Aquila, a city in the high inland province of Abruzzo: you can’t miss the fragrant presence of saffron (presumably the splendid zafferano d’Aquila; see page 243), and the sauce’s final enrichment with egg yolks is a typical embellishment in regional kitchens. All together, this is a flavorful and satisfying first or main course. It’s thoroughly vegetarian—though you can use poultry stock in place of water for a somewhat richer dish.

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