Creamy zucchini bow tie pasta
Zucchini fried until golden and sweet, then mashed into a silky, cheesy sauce with no cream at all, the Amalfi Coast trick that makes a vegetable taste luxurious.
- 45 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 4
- About $1.98 a serving
- 520 calories
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 3 zucchini
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 12 oz farfalle
- ¾ cup parmesan wedge, finely grated
- 1 tbsp butter
- ¼ cup fresh basil, torn
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp salt, plus ½ tsp
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 520 calories, 18 g protein, 69 g carbs and 19 g fat, and costs about $1.98 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No zucchini? Yellow squash works.
- No parmesan wedge? Grated parmesan works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Slice the zucchini into thin rounds, about ⅛ inch thick.
Dolly’s tip: Thin and even is the goal, so they all turn golden at the same time.Heat the oil in a large over medium-high.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heat
Fry the zucchini in 2 or 3 batches, 4 to 5 minutes each, turning once, until on both sides.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium-high heatTimer: 13 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: One layer at a time. Piled-up zucchini steams and turns watery instead of golden.Move them to a plate and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt.
Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon salt, cover and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the to low, add the garlic, cook 1 minute, then fish it out. Return the zucchini and mash about half of it with a fork.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Low heatTimer: 1 min
Cook the farfalle 1 minute less than the package says, then scoop out 1½ cups of and .
Reserve pasta water. It means scooping out a cup of the starchy cooking water before you drain the pasta. A splash helps the sauce cling and turn silky, and it’s the step everyone forgets.
How you’ll know: A mug of cloudy water is sitting by the stove before the pasta goes into the colander.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
High heatTimer: 10 min
Add the farfalle and 1 cup to the zucchini and over low heat for 1 minute.
Reserve pasta water. It means scooping out a cup of the starchy cooking water before you drain the pasta. A splash helps the sauce cling and turn silky, and it’s the step everyone forgets.
How you’ll know: A mug of cloudy water is sitting by the stove before the pasta goes into the colander.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Low heatTimer: 1 min
Take the pan off the heat, add the parmesan and butter, and hard until the sauce turns creamy and clings, adding more if it looks dry.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Reserve pasta water. It means scooping out a cup of the starchy cooking water before you drain the pasta. A splash helps the sauce cling and turn silky, and it’s the step everyone forgets.
How you’ll know: A mug of cloudy water is sitting by the stove before the pasta goes into the colander.
Dolly’s tip: Keep tossing. The starchy water, cheese and zucchini turn into a cream all on their own.Serve with torn basil and the pepper.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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