Spaghetti alla Nerano (Spaghetti with Fried Zucchini)

Spaghetti alla nerano topped with fried zucchini coins and a sprig of fresh basil.

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Spaghetti alla Nerano (Spaghetti with Fried Zucchini)

You may remember when Stanley Tucci raved over this “life-changing” Spaghetti all Nerano on his show, Searching for Italy. This simple pasta dish features a silky sauce enhanced with sweet discs of fried zucchini. Take a bite and you’ll be transported right to the Amalfi Coast!

Prep Time10

Cook Time35

Total Time45

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: servings

Calories: 829kcal

Author: Victoria

Ingredients

Zucchini:

1 pound (450 grams) zucchini trimmed and sliced into ⅛-inch rounds
Olive oil or a neutral oil like sunflower or vegetable for frying
Kosher salt

Spaghetti:

8 ounces (225 grams) spaghetti
Kosher salt
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic crushed or minced
2 ounces (55 grams) finely grated Provolone del Monaco, Caciocavallo, Sharp Provolone, or Pecorino Romano cheese
½ tablespoon butter
Freshly ground black pepper
Fresh basil for garnish

Instructions

Zucchini:

Line a baking sheet or cafeteria tray with paper towels. Add olive oil to a depth of about ½-inch to a wide pot with high sides. Heat over medium-high heat. You’ll know the oil is ready if you add a slice of zucchini and it almost immediately starts to sizzle.
Shallow fry the sliced zucchini in batches until golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes, flipping them over as needed. Lower the heat to medium if they seem to be browning too fast. Remove from the oil to the prepared baking sheet to drain. Immediately sprinkle salt over the fried zucchini.

Spaghetti:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until just shy of al dente (it will continue cooking later). Reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water, then drain the spaghetti and set aside (if the timing works out, you can actually strain the spaghetti right out of the pot and into the skillet since you want it to be wet; see the following steps).
Meanwhile, in a medium skillet with high sides, add olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant, but not browned. Add about half to two-thirds of the fried zucchini slices to the pan and mash them with a wooden spoon to break them down a bit. You can add about ¼ cup reserved pasta water too to help soften and break them down.
Add the drained pasta along with about ½ cup of the reserved pasta water. Stir and continue to cook until the sauce is emulsified and the pasta is al dente, a few more minutes. If the sauce reduces too much before the spaghetti is finished cooking, continue adding splashes of pasta water as needed.
Remove from the heat, add the cheese, butter and black pepper and toss to coat. You want to toss rather vigorously to ensure the cheese melts and emulsifies into the sauce rather than clumping up. I use silicone-tipped tongs to really agitate the pasta around the pan to yield a silky sauce. Add more pasta water if needed to get the sauce smooth and silky. Taste and adjust with additional salt and pepper if needed.
Serve the pasta with the remaining fried zucchini rounds divided up over each serving. Top with fresh basil and serve with more cheese on the side if desired.

Notes

Calculating nutrition for fried foods is tricky. I have accounted for several tablespoons of absorbed olive oil into the zucchini but this really can vary.
Ideally, use young zucchini that are roughly the same size in order to get identical slices. Smaller/younger zucchini will be more tender, and have less seeds and water, resulting in much better flavor and texture. You can use a mandoline to get perfectly even slices, or slice carefully with a sharp knife.
You can fry the zucchini in a neutral oil such as sunflower or avocado oil. Stanley Tucci, who made this dish famous, uses vegetable oil. Olive oil is perhaps the more traditional option, and it’s what I’ve used here. If you use olive oil for frying, make sure it’s regular and not extra-virgin.
The classic cheese used for Spaghetti alla Nerano is Provolone del Monaco, a specific type of Provolone cheese hailing from the Campania region. This may be difficult to find, but I managed to get some at Venda Ravioli in Providence, RI. The best alternatives include Caciocavallo, Sharp Provolone, or Pecorino Romano. It’s best to grate your cheese right out of the fridge while it’s still cold. Once your cheese warms to room temperature it softens and doesn’t grate properly.
Although Spaghetti alla Nerano is best served immediately, you could store leftovers up to 3 days in the fridge. Microwave or gently reheat in a nonstick skillet over medium heat, adding splashes of water as needed to loosen up the sauce.
You can slice and fry the zucchini a day in advance. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. You’ll want to briefly heat the zucchini back through in a skillet before using it. In terms of reheating, mainly focus on the portion of the sliced zucchini you’ll top the spaghetti with at the end, as the other rest will be heated and smashed in the skillet to create the sauce.
I fried 1 pound of zucchini slices in 4 batches. Make sure you separate the zucchini slices as you add them to the pot, as they may want to stick together. I recommend using a spider skimmer to flip the zucchini slices and also remove them from the oil. You can also use a spider skimmer in later steps to remove the spaghetti from the boiling water and transfer to the skillet.

Nutrition