Pasta alla Nerano Attempt

I read about this recipe very recently on facebook … and now I can’t find my notes.  I googled and only found the text written by Luciano Pignataro on his blog.

Anyway – it sounded nice and very summery and I thought I’d give it a go.   Nerano is a holiday destination on the Amalfi Coast and gives this recipe its name.  It requires a cheese I couldn’t get hold of so I used parmesan instead.  I’m not saying it’s the “real thing” — I had never even heard of it until a few days ago — and I am sure the “real thing” is fantastic.  I’m only saying that this one was worth the effort.

Courgettes … Slice the courgettes into thin but not too thin rounds. Grate your parmesan (repeat … it calls for another cheese whose name escapes me). Cook some garlic in olive oil until it turns golden. Fry the courgette rounds in olive oil — and only olive oil — indeed, only in EVOO. Remove the garlic when it turns golden. When you have fried about 1/3 of the total amount of courgettes, put these aside. Keep calm and carry on frying the rest. Use a blender to  process 1/3 of the courgettes.  Add some cooking water, you will need it, to make it creamier.  Add salt and white pepper. When the pasta has been cooked and drained. place it in the pan and add the processed courgettes. And here was the weirdest part of the recipe … wait for it … plunge the rest of the fried courgettes back into the cooking water, only for a few seconds however … And then add them to the pasta in the pan, in joyful unison.
Shower the grated cheese on top … Mix and combine … combine and mix and add any cooking water if necessary  (and it WAS necessary). It gets very sticky …It turns out that I had to keep adding a little more cooking water and then stirring vigorously …
In the serving dish.  Add leaves of freshly torn basil leaves … A close-up … Enjoy!  Mmmmm …. very good!