creamy lemon zucchini pasta yet again

Last century we were inspired to find an alternative to the famous Fettuccine Alfredo which is sort of an exaggeration for tourists in Italy and clueless Americans in our home country, clueless only since the dish somehow got well known without understanding the simpler authentic pasta from which it emerged: just fresh fettuccini (in English, fettuccine in Italian, change of sex, like zucchini are zucchine in Italy), butter and parmigiano. Motivated by a desire for healthier food, but duplicating the effect of heavy cream in sauces, the dr bob cooking team invented a recipe similar to this one but with an egglike bechamel sauce inspired by a now long forgotten meal on the beach of Chiaia di Luna in Ponza, shut down for safety reasons decades ago. The stunning white cliffs which serve as a breathtakingly beautiful backdrop to the picturesqe beach in the shape of a quarter moon were deemed dangerous, eliminating the only beach walkable from the port. Increasing the need for dinghy rentals at our good friends seasonal business.

Benedetta came later in our lives with the rise of the internet and social media. Our Facebook news stream slowly acquired more and more regular posts by various cooking sites, and her video recipes were convincing enough for us to pay attention when we managed to catch them as they flashed by in our scrolling as we avoided more and more crap thrown at us as part of the shitification of social media that inevitably follows their introduction and mass adoption. However, this one is not from Benedetta who has her own variation of this natural combination of shredded (grated) zucchini, lemon zest, garlic and lots of parmigiano, many versions of which pop up in a Google search, but often with that dreaded heavy cream in the ingredient list. OOPS! So does this one. But we substitute half and half to lower the fat content. In fact this recipe itself is a slight variation from Bon Appetit, a magazine we subscribed to for a quarter century before cutting the subscription.

We did this first with bucatini but then one of the team members requested it again, with fettuccini(e) or more precisely papardelle which are much wider, and so the decision was taken to make our whole wheat fettuccine from scratch to make the dish extra special. Whatever pasta shape you chose, fresh or dry, this is a nice almost healthy dish you might find yourself making more than once, like us.

Unfortunately bob has never had a good memory for details. We had done this 3 months earlier which prompted the request from Isgouhi to repeat, but forgot that we had also recorded the recipe on that occasion. Where we had also discovered the Bon Appetit version. Oh well, a fresh look and a few extra words never hurt anyone, no? bob has a long reputation as an "absentminded professor", familiar from his childhood as a Disney movie with Fred MacMurray.

ingredients

3 to 4 c freshly grated zucchini, before squeezing

2 T unsalted butter

1 T olive oil kosher

salt and pepper to taste

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb bucatini pasta (or fettuccini(e)!)

1/2 c  heavy cream [we used half and half]

2 T freshly grated lemon zest

1/3 c  finely grated parmesan cheese

1/2 c chopped fresh basil, plus more for topping

3 T chopped fresh chives

1/3 c shaved parmigiano

instructions

1. Grate the zucchini. Place it in a large kitchen towel and squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible.
2. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the zucchini with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to toss. Cook, stirring over, until the zucchini melts down and becomes caramelized, about 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in the garlic.
3. While the zucchini cooks, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta. When it�s finished, reserve 2 cups of the starchy pasta water.
4. Transfer the pasta to the pan with the zucchini - you can take it right from the pot and place it in the zucchini skillet. Add 1 cup of the reserved water and the heavy cream (whatever). Stir and toss until combined. Stir in the lemon zest and the finely grated parmigiano.
5. Add another 1/2 cup of the starchy water, stirring to combine. Add in the fresh basil and chives. Taste and if needed, add in more salt, pepper or lemon zest or parmigiano.
6. Top the pasta with the shaved parmigiano and a bunch of fresh basil. Serve immediately!

notes

1. Fettuccine zuffredo from the dr bob cooking team.
2. Creamy lemon zucchini pasta by How Sweet Eats [Jessica Merchant, cookbook author and pistachio cookie creator: recipe]
3. Creamy lemon zucchini pasta at Bon Appetit [lemon juice instead of zest, some pepperoncio].
4. Creamy zucchini pasta by Benedetta and an alternative with robiolo cheese.
5. Creamy lemon zucchini pasta by the dr bob cooking team (2017).
6. Creamy lemon zucchini pasta again by the dr bob cooking team (2026).
7. The Absentminded Professor (1961) [Google]
8. Chiaia di Luna, Ponza. [1, 2]. Halfway between Rome and Naples, in front of Formia.
9. Divaluna, tell them bob and ani sent you.
10. Another Italian lady we met as the cute child daughter on the series Provaci Ancora Prof (The Teacher, 2005-2017): Ludovica Gargari who now does cooking videos  for Giallo Zafferano as a cute grownup lady (a reliable source of recipes).
11. Illustrations available.