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 3×3 cm cubes
50 gms of Italian speck, thinly sliced
½ a small onion, thinly chopped
2 tbsp 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 3×3 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 tbsp 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.
I am so hungry right now looking at these photos! What a wonderful memory to have. Sounds like such a great holiday.
Another beautiful dish Manu! I love that it’s creamy, but not super heavy!
Gorgeous pasta! I’ve never tasted speck before but now I’m on a mission. Thanks so much for sharing this super tasty recipe 🙂
You won my heart over! I absolutely love Speck!
Great idea to add zucchini to pasta, love it and will surely try it :D)!
Oh how amazing this looks..I love this pasta, I love anything that you make:)) delicious Manu..
Hi Manu! You make all kinds of pasta, and they all look simple enough, yet your creation is always looking delicious! From your step-by-step pictures, I can tell you are very detail and neat person…and the food you cook shows that. When I cook pasta, sometimes it looks horrible (probably overcook veggies?). Yours almost always come out nice and ready for pictures. 🙂
this looks really delicious, such simple ingredients but i bet it tasted perfect, Thats all you need 🙂
I have never heard of speck before. I look wonderful.
See that’s why you shouldn’t blog hop at night.. i am drooling on this even after finishing my dinner.. and you made pasta, my fav pasta !!
I hope to take my kids on a vacation like that one day and that they will remember it with so much joy. Anything that includes the word speck makes me happy.
Love this pasta dish…yum, yum, yum! SO simple yet full of amazing flavors 🙂
Manu,
Another great pasta dish that looks to die for. I adore speck and also the Dolomites. Also had one of the best hols there but don’t remember such a lovely dish like yours 😉 Your photos are so vibrant, just like you!
I haven’t tried adding zucchini to my pasta dishes…and now, I want to try! This looks so healthy & yummy, Manu!
Sounds great. I’m hungry now. Good job!
Christine
Christine’s Pantry
Manu, looks fantastic! I only knew zucchini and shrimp with saffron, I’d love to try your recipe if I can put my hands on some Speck here in Vancouver. I noticed you peeled the zucchini, is that because the skin tastes a bit strong? Thanks and, BTW, thanks for sharing your memories – I could totally picture the scene in my head.
Hehehehe I peel them so my 3 year old can eat them without fuss… she’s into the “no green in my plate” period… 😉 But you don’t necessarily have to peel them. Hope your trip to Italy went well! 🙂
just love italian,gonna try this,i like the step by step instructions
check out my pasta recipe
http://cheriesstolenrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/04/chicken-and-mushroom-pasta-in-white.html
Ooo yum – I love zucchini in pasta and I love speck in…just about everything!! 🙂
Fantastic! i just cooked this and it was delicious, though i need to get the dosages right, i tend to make a bit too much sauce, being an inexperienced cook but this was very simple and super tasty!
thank you manuela!
Actually Speck comes from Austria and in variations also from other german speaking countries. Not from “this part of Italy”.
Anyway, nice Food-blog.