This pasta brings back lots of wonderful childhood memories. I still remember the first time I ate this pasta even though I was only 7 years old. It was a very cold winter evening and I was on a ski holiday, a “settimana bianca” (literally a “white week”) as we call it in Italy. We were in Merano (Wiki), in South Tyrol, a beautiful place on the Italian Alps and my parents and I were sharing an apartment with my aunt, uncle and cousin who had come from Sicily. We had a blast! It was so much fun... learning to ski during the day and playing and chatting with the family in the evening. It was a holiday I will always remember. One of the dishes that my mom and aunt came up with during that time was this “pasta with zucchini and speck”. Speck comes from that part of Italy, so I guess this ingredient must have inspired them. It is a delicious pasta dish, tasty and delicate at the same time. Give it a try, you will love it.
Ingredients for 4 persons:
3 medium zucchinis, chopped in 3x3 cm cubes
50 gms of Italian speck, thinly sliced
½ a small onion, thinly chopped
2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
½ cup of water
Salt to taste (speck can be salty, so add it only at the end)
150-200 ml of cooking cream/thick cream
Parmigiano Reggiano, thinly grated to serve
Ground pepper to serve
Clean and chop the zucchinis into 3x3 cm cubes (approximately 1 inch x 1 inch). Thinly chop the onion and the sliced Italian speck. Put the onion and speck in a pot with the extra virgin olive oil and cook on a slow fire for a couple of minutes.
When the onion becomes transparent, add the zucchinis and the ½ cup of water, cover and let it cook on a slow fire until the zucchinis are soft.
If the sauce is too watery, raise the fire and cook for a couple of minutes uncovered. Ideally you still want a bit of sauce, but not too much (approximately 4 tbsp). Add salt to taste.
Cook the penne following the steps on How to cook pasta “al dente” in the Techniques page of this site, but drain it 1 minute before it is cooked as it will finish cooking together with the sauce. Put the drained pasta in the pot with the zucchini and speck sauce, add the cream and mix well while cooking it on a slow flame for 1 or 2 minutes.
Serve with thinly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and ground pepper on the top.
Penne with Zucchini and Speck
A delicious pasta dish with zucchini, speck and cream, tasty and delicate at the same time. Give it a try, you will love it.
Ingredients
- 3 medium zucchinis chopped in 3x3 cm cubes
- 50 gms of Italian speck thinly sliced
- ½ a small onion thinly chopped
- 2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup of water
- Salt to taste
- 150-200 ml of cooking cream/thick cream
- Parmigiano Reggiano thinly grated to serve
- Ground pepper to serve
- 350 gms – ¾ lb. Penne
Instructions
-
Clean and chop the zucchinis into 3x3 cm cubes (approximately 1 inch x 1 inch). Thinly chop the onion and the sliced Italian speck. Put the onion and speck in a pot with the extra virgin olive oil and cook on a slow fire for a couple of minutes.
-
When the onion becomes transparent, add the zucchinis and the ½ cup of water, cover and let it cook on a slow fire until the zucchinis are soft.
-
If the sauce is too watery, raise the fire and cook for a couple of minutes uncovered. Ideally you still want a bit of sauce, but not too much (approximately 4 tbsp). Add salt to taste.
-
Cook the penne following the steps on How to cook pasta “al dente” in the Techniques page of this site, but drain it 1 minute before it is cooked as it will finish cooking together with the sauce. Put the drained pasta in the pot with the zucchini and speck sauce, add the cream and mix well while cooking it on a slow flame for 1 or 2 minutes.
-
Serve with thinly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and ground pepper on the top.
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Actually Speck comes from Austria and in variations also from other german speaking countries. Not from "this part of Italy".
Anyway, nice Food-blog.