Many Italian dishes seem complex on the surface however they are very simple and often contain little ingredients. Instead, Italian cuisine focuses on the quality and the individual flavor of each ingredient to highlight the dish.
In this first recipe for Mamma Mia Kitchen, we will show you how to make Spaghetti alla Nerano, which translated into English means spaghetti made the Nerano way. Nerano is a small town on the beautiful Amalfi coast and this is where the dish originated. The recipe is based heavily on zucchini which gives it an incredible flavor.
Spaghetti alla Nerano
Equipment
- Knife
- Ladle
- Pot
- Fry pan
- Slicer
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 whole onion
- 4 whole Zucchini
- 4 basil leaves
- salt as needed
- pepper as needed
- 150 grams Provolone del Monaco substitute Parmiggiano Reggiano if needed
- 350 grams spaghetti
Instructions
Preparation:
- Peel a whole onion and dice it into small minced pieces.
- Slice the zucchini into thin, circular pieces to reduce the cooking time.
- Grate the Provolone del Monaco in a blender until it is almost like a powder.
Cooking:
- In a fry pan, heat up the olive oil on medium-high heat.
- When the oil is hot enough, add the diced onions and cook them until they start to caramelize.
- Once caramelized, add the sliced zucchini and basil and cook for approximately 10 minutes until the zucchini turn golden brown. Add salt and pepper to your liking.
- After the zucchini finish cooking, place the pan to the side off the heat for the next steps
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Once the water is boiling, add the spaghetti and a generous dose of salt to the water.
- Cook the spaghetti for exactly 2 minutes less than the suggested cooking time on the label. For example, if the box suggests an 11 minute cooking time (common for most spaghetti), cook the spaghetti for 9 minutes. This step is extremely important in bringing the whole dish together.
- In the last few minutes while the pasta is cooking, begin to heat the pan with the zucchini.
- When the pasta is done cooking, use a ladle to scoop the water from the pasta and put two scoops of the past water into the fry pan with the zucchini.
- Add the spaghetti to the fry pan. Cook the spaghetti for 2 minutes and add water as needed. You will see the water slowly amalgamate and create a delicious cream as the spaghetti releases it's starches.
- Add the Provolone del Monaco slowly into the spaghetti and keep stirring until the cheese has melted.
- Once the spaghetti reaches a creamy consistency, it is now ready to be plated.
- Take a ladle and a pair of tongs and grab the spaghetti and place it into the ladle. Slowly spin the tongs while maintaining a grip on the spaghetti. This will spin the spaghetti in a tight circle at which point carefully transfer it to the plate.
- Drizzle a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and pepper to finish the dish. Buon Appetit!
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