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, Spahetti 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
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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.