Fettuccine Alla Pappone

The best answer to the age-old summer question: What can I do with all this zucchini …

Ingredients

1 pound zucchini, my favourite is the heirloom romanesco variety

Vegetable oil, enough to have 1” in the bottom of a medium pan

1 pound handmade fettuccine (recipe here)

3 tablespoons of butter

3 tablspoons of olive oil

3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour dissolved in 1 cup full fat milk

Salt

2/3 cup roughly chopped fresh basil

1 egg yolk, beaten lightly

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup freshly grated Romano pecorino cheese (asiago also works well)

Step 1: Cut zucchini in to long sticks about 3 inches long and 1/8 of an inch thick

Step 2: Heat the vegetable oil in a pan over meduim-high heat. Fry the zucchini sticks a few at a time so they are not over-crowded. Fry until lightly golden but not too dark. Place each batch on a plate with paper towels to absorb the oil.

Step 3: Melt half the butter and all the olive oil. When butter is foaming, add the flour and milk mixture slowly while stirring. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Cook the mixture and add the zucchini in small batches turning them while adding to the mixture. Add a dash of salt and all of the chopped basil.

Step 4: remove from heat and add the rest of the butter and rapidly mix in the egg yolk and all the grated cheese. Taste and correct for salt and pepper if desired.

Step 5: Drop the fettuccine into 4 quarts of boiling salted water. Stir the pasta as it cooks. This will only take a minute or two at the most with fresh pasta. Remove pasta from the water and let it drain in a colander. Then turn it into a pretty serving bowl and toss with the zucchini sauce.

Step 6: Serve immediately. This dish goes well with Stolen Harvest Peppered Pear or Dandelion mead.