Spaghetti alla Nerano - aka "Stanley Tucci's Spaghetti" (with Zucchini, Cheese, and Basil)

[weinoo]

The New Yorker's Daniel Ford takes on "Tucci's" spaghetti this week. Actually, not really Tucci's spaghetti, but eerily similar to when Bourdain would visit a specific restaurant and qvell about a dish, turning it into a pilgrimage for the sheep who follow such things, Spaghetti alla Nerano has joined that infamous listicle of dishes, after Tucci's quest and qvell.

 

It happened on the first episode of CNN/Tucci's "Searching for Italy," a show which I've yet to tune into, as I generally feel as if actors should stick to acting, and not, well, pretend they're Bourdain. Because there was only one Bourdain. I digress.

 

The dish is a simple one, but as we who cook all know, simple is hard when it comes to specific dishes. Hard to get right, and hard to get right consistently (my main example always being pizza, at least for me). One of the first things I learned in my first internship at a restaurant - do it the same every fucking time (I didn't work for Dan Barber, so there was no yelling, just cursing)...because if that customer loved a dish (let's say, spaghetti alla Nerano) the first time customer was in, customer wants that same dish the next time! Use patty pan squash, for example, and that cook might just end up swimming with the fishes in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

 

As with many dishes in Italy's numerous regions and subregions, one nonna might make it different than another, even if they live just across the piazza from one another. I myself have never attempted the dish - I'm not a huge fan of zucchini, finding it - well, as Daniel Ford writes:

 

Quote

...a familiar, easy-to-grow, and virtually tasteless green summer squash—has never been a gastronomic superstar. It is usually a fried side dish or an ensemble player in other vegetable creations, such as ratatouille.

 

Anyway, it appears as if Tucci and his wife Felicity Blunt loved the dish so much after enjoying it at one of Nerano's restaurants, Lo Scoglio da Tommaso, that they kept trying to replicate it at home - weekly, as a matter of fact! Unable to get it quite right, they did what any of us would do, and booked private time with the chef at Lo Scoglio. Their eureka  moment? The zucchini is deep fried. All is good with the world - at least on the Amalfi Coast.

 

I doubt I'll be making this dish any time soon; I prefer Marcella's recipes for zucchini when it might be the only vegetable available, especially zucchine fritte all'aceto. Served at room temp, it's a great antipasto, and it even works well as a contorni - perhaps for something as simple as spaghetti cacio e pepe. And how to make cacio e pepe? Don't ask.

 

The Secrets of Stanley Tucci’s Zucchini Spaghetti

 

Quote

 

Spaghetti alla Nerano

 

Adapted from Lo Scoglio da Tommaso and other Nerano restaurants.  Serves 4

 

Ingredients

 

6 medium zucchini, sliced into quarter-inch rounds

Sunflower oil, for frying

14 oz. spaghetti

1 clove garlic, minced (optional)

2 to 4 oz. grated cheese (such as aged Parmigiano Reggiano, Provolone del Monaco, or Caciocavallo)

1 bunch fresh basil leaves

A pat of butter (optional)

Ground black pepper, to taste

 

Directions

1. Take thinly sliced zucchini rounds and deep-fry in sunflower oil until golden (or even slightly burnt).

2. Put fried zucchini on a paper towel to absorb oil; let sit in a bowl for a few hours to rest (or put in the fridge overnight). Before using, dab them again with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.

3. Boil spaghetti in lightly salted water until al dente. Save a cup of cooking water after draining spaghetti.

4. Reheat zucchini in a frying pan with optional minced garlic.

5. Place half of the zucchini into a clean pot or bowl, then add a few Tbsp. of cheese and a few Tbsp. of the pasta cooking water. Stir the mixture until cheese begins to melt. Add spaghetti, the rest of the zucchini, and cheese, and continue stirring until cheese and spaghetti water form a saucy emulsion. If the mixture seems too thick, add a bit more cooking broth. If it is too thin, add more cheese.

 

 

Edited July 14, 2022 by Smithy
Corrected title spelling (log)

[blue_dolphin]

It must be quite a captivating dish, when enjoyed in situ anyway. Vivian Howard was sufficiently taken with it to include a version in her book. I made her version and didn’t really get going to the trouble of deep frying the zucchini and then mushing half of it into a sauce.  
Not planning to try cooking it again but if I happen to be in that neighborhood, I’ll happily let someone serve it to me!

[weinoo]

5 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Not planning to try cooking it again but if I happen to be in that neighborhood, I’ll happily let someone serve it to me!

 

If you see Tucci, say hi!

[Katie Meadow]

I saw one episode and found it so cringey I never tuned back in. As for zucchini, if it takes more than ten minutes from fridge to plate count me out. In New Mexico lots of my friends had gardens, so naturally there were plenty of free zukes. And in those days no one had yet discovered the gold: the flowers. And for some reason gifting a giant overgrown zucchini was not always a joke. I learned it takes a lot of roasted Hatch (original Hatch!) chile to make it palatable. Every once in a while when I get nostalgic for NM I make a green chile squash casserole, but I use various yellow summer squashes instead of zzzz's.

[heidih]

My first thought when I read the article this morning was "if you think zucchini is tasteless - you are either not getting good ones or don't know how to prepare it". As to the frying - I've made something similar for years but oil the slices and broil - yes the bit of char is a defining yum factor for me. 

[Anna N]

2 hours ago, weinoo said:

Unable to get it quite right, they did what any of us would do, and booked private time with the chef

Yup!

Even though I am never likely to make the dish I found it an interesting read so thank you. 

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, Katie Meadow said:

I saw one episode and found it so cringey I never tuned back in. As for zucchini, if it takes more than ten minutes from fridge to plate count me out.

I go the opposite direction, and mostly eat mine cooked low-and-slow to concentrate the flavor.

 

That was the input of my California-bred second wife, who was a big fan of zucchini and summer squashes in general. When I told her I found them bland and watery in most preparations, her response was that "they're bland because they're watery," and her answer was to cook them down (like reducing a stock). So I prepared them as instructed, and was pleasantly surprised, and have seldom eaten them any other way since.

 

This doesn't apply to fingerlings and blossoms, of course, but to any normal-sized zuke.

[weinoo]

It's a good vegetable to salt first, and cook for a long time a la Marcella.

[FrogPrincesse]

I made the dish a few months ago after watching the show, not realizing it had its own eGullet thread.

 

Anyway, it took a while to fry all the zucchini so this isn't a recipe for a quick weeknight dinner. But I thought it was very good, better than the sum of its parts, and I was pleasantly surprised! I would make it again.

 

Now, is it life-changing as Tucci claims it is? I don't think so.

 

 

 

 

[Katie Meadow]

6 minutes ago, FrogPrincesse said:

I made the dish a few months ago after watching the show, not realizing it had its own eGullet thread.

 

Anyway, it took a while to fry all the zucchini so this isn't a recipe for a quick weeknight dinner. But I thought it was very good, better than the sum of its parts, and I was pleasantly surprised! I would make it again.

 

Now, is it life-changing as Tucci claims it is? I don't think so.

 

 

 

 

Looks and sounds good, although I find him and his show really. unwatchable. Zucchini might be life-changing only if a giant one hit and killed you or someone you loved.

[weinoo]

You know what might be life changing?  Having the dish, prepared for you, at a restaurant overlooking the Amalfi Coast.

[gfweb]

I enjoy Tucci  esp on AmericanAirlines where the best food is on the screen in front of me.  I admit to be puzzled about sauteed zucchini transforming pasta. Perhaps Stosh will cook it up for me one day