Here is one more recipe for you to use up all your zucchini. I created it back in the summer of 1983 for the first Zucchini Festival in Hayward, California. I knew that my pasta with zucchini and ricotta salata wouldn’t be a good choice so I came up with a recipe made with pureed zucchini. It almost looks like a pesto sauce.
The recipe was so good that it won first place in the main dish category. Everybody loves this dish and it is especially popular with kids – they eat it not knowing that it is made with zucchini.
The puree is so lush that most people think it contains butter and cream. It has neither. My original recipe did include butter, as an attempt to appeal to Americans, but over the years I dropped it and the dish remains sufficiently rich. You can make it several hours ahead and it also freezes well.
It is an easy recipe to make; the sauce has only zucchini, onion, garlic, parsley, basil and a bouillon cube that gives it its very rich taste.
In the 80s it was very popular in Italy to throw a bouillon cube into everything–that’s how I happened to put it in this sauce. I tried making the dish without it once and the taste just wasn’t the same. I use the Knorr chicken bouillon cubes, butyou can use their vegetable flavor if you prefer .
Saute the onion and garlic until soft:
Add the zucchini, parsley, basil and crumbled bouillon cube:
Cook at low heat until it is very soft and smashes easily:
Then puree it in a blender until you have a smooth sauce:
Put the sauce in a skillet, add some cheese and add the drained pasta to the sauce. Toss the pasta until well coated.
Let me know what you think of it.
| Pasta con crema di zucchine
(Pasta with zucchini and herb puree) 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 small onion, coarsely chopped 3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped 1 pound zucchini, halved or quartered lengthwise, then sliced about 1/4 inch thick 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley 1 chicken bouillon cube (preferably Knorr brand), crushed 2 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus more for passing Freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 lb of Rigatoni, Penne or other type of short pasta Grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese to taste 1. In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add the zucchini, basil, parsley and the crumbled bouillon cubes. 2. Cook, uncovered, over low heat for about 20 minutes, until the zucchini are fully cooked and soft. If the zucchini seem dry, add a small amount of water to continue cooking until soft. It should look like a mush of zucchini. Taste for salt. If needed add salt to taste. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste. 3. When the zucchini are cooked, place the mixture in a blender and puree until you have a smooth sauce. 4. Bring the water for the pasta to a boil, add salt to taste, and cook the pasta until al dente. 5. While the pasta is cooking, place the sauce in a large sauté pan, and add the grated cheese. Mix well. 6. When the pasta is ready, drain, and add to the sauce, raising the heat and stirring until the pasta is well coated. Sprinkle with more cheese and serve at once. Serves 6 Copyright 2005, Rosetta Costantino. All rights reserved. |
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I’ll be at that festival on Saturday. This sounds like a terrific way to use up some over-abundant zucchini.
My gosh, this is brilliant! I’m putting this on my menu for this week. I’ve got so much zucchini. . . .!
How would you freeze this Rosetta? I have so many zucchine in my garden I would like to make some to freeze. Could I just put in a freezer bag? I made your pasta con Zucchine e Ricotta Salata, it was so good! I think I am going to try this one soon, as I am sure it will be good just as good.
Can’t wait for your book – It looks GREAT!
Rita,
To freeze it, make sure the puree is cool and don’t add the cheese. Put it in small freezer bags, I put in each bag the amount of sauce that I would need for the number of servings. Then I put all the small freezer bags in a large freezer bag and put it away for months. When you need it, take it out and place the bag with the sauce in a warm water bath to help it defrost. Then put it in the skillet, warm it up and add the cheese and toss the pasta in it. I make a very large batch of this sauce, you can triple or quadruple the recipe and it works well.
Elaine,
Let me know how you like it.
Delicious!! I just made it tonight for dinner and it was even better this way-we didn’t really miss the ricotta salata. I pureed about 80% of the mixture to still have a few chunks and it was great! I will be making this many more times with all the zucchini. Thank you for the recipe. By the way, my 9 year old son says It’s awesome!!-3 helpings.
Thank-you for your directions on freezing the sauce – they came just in time! I have just finished making some and it tastes great and am just about to start another batch to freeze so that my zucchini don’t go to waste. The sauce is definitely very lush, delicious! Thank-you!
Rosetta – I really love this recipe and made it over the weekend. I like to eat vegan as often as possible (though I so LOVE cheese) so this was a new creative way to use the many, many, many zucchini my garden is producing right now.
Thank you for sharing!
Just made this for the kids. They loved it!!! Will make more and freeze some next time. I told them it was squashed frog sauce, since I knew zucchini was a non-starter. Can’t wait for the book.
I love your new name for this pasta sauce “squashed frog sauce”. Glad to hear that the kids loved it.
I had a friend who mad a canned artichoke breakfast casserole and she called it squashed frog, because no one would eat artichokes in her house, so I stole the name.
Yesterday I cooked it and it was very, very yummy. I diluted the sauce a little bit with pasta water; the sauce seemed to me a bit too thick. Bravissima Rosetta.
Elvira,
You did the right thing by adding some pasta water. The thickness of the sauce depends on how much liquid there is left in the cooked zucchini. If they are dried out the sauce will be too thick.
My kids and I made this for lunch one day after I saw the recipe (figuring it was a great way to use up some of the plethora of zucchini from the garden). How tasty! Even my son, who doesn’t really care for zucchini, enjoyed this dish.
Ann Louise,
Glad to hear that your kids liked it.
I love this dish and will be making it for dinner this upcoming week, thank you!
Hi Rosetta!
I’ve made a few recipes from your blog so far, and they’ve all quickly become some of my favorites!
I just made this one–literally, just 20 minutes ago–and like the others, it was splendid. My parsley is dying off, so I used extra basil (a mix of cinnamon and licorice basil) and it worked out great.
Can’t wait to nab your cookbook!
~j
For years I have been awaiting a cookbook paying its due to Calabria, the others all gloss over the region. Thank you! My Calabria is incredible.
Gus,
Thank you! I am happy to hear that you like the book.
Rosetta
Rosetta,
This is one of my favorite recipes of yours! It is truly incredible! Everyone who tries it at my table thinks it is loaded with cream! I add some of the Calabrian crushed pepper to give it a bit of a zing! Incredible! Are you still selling the dried crushed peppers?
Lastly, attempting to sign up for the Neopolitan Pizzeria class on November 11, but the PayPal icon is not on the class schedule page bottom or otherwise. Does this mean it is sold out?
Thank you!
Maria Tanzillo (Giovanna Tanzillo’s daughter)
Genius!
mmmm… good idea !