Spaghetti alla Nerano is a typical first course from the Sorrento coast, more precisely from Nerano, a small seaside village in the municipality of Massa Lubrense, right in front of the island of Capri.
The main ingredients of this super delicious dish are zucchini, strictly fried, and Provolone del Monaco, a semi-hard cheese produced in the Monti Lattari area, which can be more or less spicy depending on its maturation.
The combination of these two ingredients, along with a few small preparation tricks, will result in an extremely creamy dish.
But let’s see together how to prepare it and then … let’s cook and eat!!
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer
Ingredients
- 11 oz spaghetti
- 1.5 lbs zucchini
- extra virgin olive oil
- leaves basil
- to taste salt
- to taste black pepper (ground)
- 2 tbsps butter
- 7 oz Provolone del Monaco
- to taste peanut oil
Steps
To prepare Spaghetti alla Nerano, start by washing and thoroughly drying the zucchini. Then remove both ends and slice them to a thickness of about 1/8 inch.
Fry the zucchini slices in plenty of peanut oil until golden on both sides, then drain them on absorbent paper, pat dry, and lightly salt them.
Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in plenty of salted water and, in a pan, melt the butter, add the zucchini, a ladle of the spaghetti’s cooking water, and fresh basil leaves.
Drain the spaghetti al dente, at least a couple of minutes before the cooking time indicated on the package, and transfer it to the pan with the zucchini.
Now begins a crucial step for the success of this dish, which is the creaming phase.
If you’re good at tossing pasta, this is the time to shine! Add a little cooking water at a time and repeatedly toss the pasta in the pan.
If you’re a beginner, don’t worry! Instead of tossing, to help release starch from the spaghetti (which will create the characteristic creamy sauce), vigorously stir it with tongs in the pan.
When the spaghetti is ready, turn off the heat, move the pan from the burner, and add finely grated Provolone del Monaco in several batches, continuing to toss the pasta. If necessary, add a bit more cooking water to make the spaghetti creamier.
Finish with a sprinkle of ground black pepper and more fresh basil leaves.
Plate and enjoy your Spaghetti alla Nerano with a glass of cold white wine.
Enjoy your meal 😉
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