rigatoni in crema di zucchini con bacon affumicato
rigatoni in a zucchini sauce with smoked bacon
I’ve come to the conclusion that I struggle with creamed or blended vegetables in a pasta sauce. It’s something about the ‘floury’ texture that vegetables like zucchini, pumpkin and potato create when they’re blended - too much like baby food for me. I prefer my sauces smoother and silky; however if you like that kind of texture, you’ll probably love this dish, and could re-purpose at least some of it for your baby feed. My original inspiration for this dishcame from the many recipes I’ve seen recently on social media which use vegetables as a blended sauce base, and then pair them with a meat or fish. Here I’ve got 2 layers of zucchino flavour - the blended sauce base and then the fried discs.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO
(scroll down for the full method)
chop and cook the zucchini
blend some of the zucchini
dry-fry the bacon
fry the rest of the zucchini
boil and cook the pasta
combine pasta with blended zucchini
combine other ingredients
METHOD
Start by cutting 4 large zucchini into discs - between 5mm and 7mm thick is fine. Hold about one third back and sauté the rest, together with a thinly sliced onion, in a non-stick pan, until the zucchini begin to soften and break up and the onion is transluscent. Remove the pan from the heat and blend the vegetables using a hand blender. I stopped when there were still rough chunks of onion and zucchini skin still in the mix... go smoother if you prefer!
While the zucchini and onions are cooking, cut your bacon rashers into thin strips about 3mm wide. Dry fry together with the optional chorizo in a non stick pan and keep cooking until the meat begins to crisp. Don’t cremate it. Remove from the heat and keep it warm in an oven. Fry the remainder of the zucchini in EVO, allowing them to crisp and colour like the ones in the photo - don’t burn them. Drain and shake off excess oil.
Boil the pasta and as it approaches al dente, fish it out and add to a pasta pan with your blended zucchini and cooking water as required. Go for a slightly starchier glaze with your mantecatura. Toss and combine as normal and add half of the bacon. When you plate each portion, sprinkle the remainder of the bacon and some of the fried zucchini on each serving. Black pepper, parmesan or pecorino on the top.
NUTRITION per serving
KCAL: we're working on it!
Fat (g): TBC
Sat Fat (g): TBC
Carb (g): TBC
Sug (g): TBC
Fibre(g): TBC
Prot (g): TBC
Salt (g): TBC
Nutritional information is provided as an indication only of approximate values for the recipe on this page. You should make your own calculations if you have specific dietry requirements or are required to follow a strict calorie-controlled diet.
