Spaghettini with Zucchini and Pesto

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Spaghettini with Zucchini and Pesto

 

2 medium zucchini

1 tablespoon coarse salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon powdered red chile

1/2 pound regular, or thin, spaghetti

1/2 cup homemade, or good-quality, prepared pesto

to taste, grated Parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper

 

Cut the zucchini in half (through the middle, not stem to stern). Slice each

half into slivers about the size of a kitchen match. Toss these in a bowl with

the tablespoon of salt and let this sit for thirty minutes, turning it over

occasionally. Meanwhile, get a big pot of salted water heating. When the pasta

water is about to boil, place the olive oil, the minced garlic and the pinch of

salt and powdered red chile into a skillet. Put this over medium heat, and cook

until the garlic turns translucent.

Drain the liquid from the zucchini, spread an old but clean dish towel in the

kitchen sink, and turn out the zucchini onto it. Wrap them up in the cloth and

twist this as tightly as you can, extracting every possible bit of moisture. Put

the pasta into the boiling water.

Add the wrung-out zucchini to the contents in the skillet and cook over medium

heat, stirring frequently but gently, until the pasta is almost ready. Scoop out

1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water and add this to the zucchini. Then stir in

the pesto. Remove the skillet from the heat.

Drain the pasta and divide between two plates, doling the sauce out on top.

Serve with freshly grated Parmesan and lots of freshly milled black pepper.

Serves 2.