Spaghetti alla Nerano (fried zucchini pasta recipe).

Experience the flavors of the Amalfi Coast with this authentic Spaghetti alla Nerano recipe. This creamy, cheesy pasta dish features fried zucchini, Provolone cheese, garlic, and fresh basil. It's so simple, yet unforgettable!

A little spaghetti alla Nerano history.

Spaghetti alla Nerano was invented in the fifties by restaurant owner Maria Grazia in a restaurant bearing her name in Nerano a small seaside town on the Sorrento Peninsula near the Amalfi coast. The restaurant still exists and is being run by her grandchildren! My husband and I went to Nerano to taste this wonderful dish where it originated!

Spaghetti alla Nerano and Stanley Tucci.

This simple but delicious Italian fried zucchini pasta recipe has become very popular in the last years because of the American-Italian actor Stanley Tucci. Spaghetti alla Nerano featured in the first episode of his hit CNN series, Searching for Italy. However, there are some slight differences between the recipe from that series and the one you'll taste in Nerano.

Italians love pasta with vegetables.

Many Italian pasta recipes are very simple and easy to make, especially those with vegetables like this spaghetti alla Nerano. Italians love pasta with vegetables. I think there are two reasons for this. Firstly, pasta is traditionally, and often, served as a first course (Italians say primo). This means it comes between the antipasti and the main course (secondo). Consequently, it needs to be kept light.

Secondly, Italy has a warm climate with long hot summers throughout the peninsula, but especially in the south. Heavy meals are difficult to digest in the heat, so Italians eat a lot of meatless pasta dishes.

Fresh, seasonal and locally grown.

Vegetable based pasta dishes may be simple to make and more digestible, but, that doesn’t mean they aren’t flavourful. Italians have a talent for creating tasty food with only a few simple ingredients.

The vegetables they use are almost always fresh, seasonal and locally grown. They make good use of herbs, garlic and, on occasion, peperoncino (chili pepper). Cheese is nearly always present in vegetable based recipes. Italians mostly don’t use cheese with seafood pasta.

This recipe for spaghetti with fried zucchini (spaghetti alla Nerano) is an excellent example of a simple but exquisite summer vegetable pasta recipe. It comes from Campania and includes ingredients typical of Neapolitan cuisine.

Different versions of Spaghetti alla Nerano.

Although, the exact original recipe for this fried zucchini pasta has been kept a secret by Maria Grazia's family, there are some Italian recipe sites claiming the original. The problem is they aren't all exactly the same.

For example, most Italian recipes call for the zucchini rounds to be fried in olive oil, but some say peanut oil. In the Stanley Tucci version, the chef used sunflower oil! I used extra virgin olive oil. It's the most traditional oil in Southern Italy and in my opinion adds both flavour and nutrients to this dish.

Another difference is in the cheese. An Italian article I came across about this recipe said that originally 3 cheeses were used; caciocavallo, pecorino and caciotta. Nowadays, most Italian recipes include provolone del Monaco cheese or caciocavallo and maybe some pecorino or Parmigiano.

In the recipe from 'Searching for Italy', the cheese is only Italian Parmigiano Reggiano (parmesan cheese). NB None of these Italian cheeses are vegetarian, although vegetarian provolone exists and, of course, you can use vegetarian parmesan.

Ingredients for spaghetti alla Nerano

Zucchini

Although there are different types of zucchini here in Italy, this recipe calls for the most common dark green ones known as 'zucchino nero di Milano'. These zucchinis are easily available outside of Italy too. Choose young, smaller fresh zucchini that have smooth and shiny skin. They will be sweeter. Older, large zucchini aren’t good because they can be bitter.

The cheese

This recipe calls for Provolone del Monaco or a spicy provolone. The former is hard to find out side of Italy. Alternatively you can use a regular provolone, caciocavallo or pecorino. Provolone del Monaco. This is a semi-hard cow’s milk DOP cheese from the Monti Lattari area near Naples. It can be quite spicy depending on the maturation.

Fresh basil

When we had spaghetti alla Nerano in Nerano, they were very generous with the fresh basil. Certainly the flavor really compliments the zucchini and cheese. Feel free to use as many basil leaves as you like. Dried basil isn't recommended. As an alternative, you could use fresh mint.

Olive oil.

Extra virgin olive oil is the best for this simple recipe. It's also the most commonly used oil in Neapolitan cuisine. It also has a lot of health benefits other oils don’t have such as antioxidants, healthy fats, and anti-inflammatory properties, among others.

Spaghetti.

Spaghetti is the traditional pasta for alla Nerano but other long pasta such as linguine work well too. Look for a good quality pasta that has the words 'bronze die' on the packet. This means that the pasta dough was extruded through traditional bronze plates, which creates a slightly rough texture. This texture prevents the sauce from sliding off the pasta.

Garlic

The amount of garlic you use really depends on taste. You can also leave it out. The garlic cloves need to be peeled and sautéed whole in olive oil over a medium heat. You then remove them from the pan before finishing the sauce.

The secret to a great spaghetti alla Nerano.

In my opinion, the secret to this dish is that the fried zucchini slices have to be immersed in boiling water. This is so that they reabsorb some of the liquid they lost during the frying. Then some of the zucchini slices are creamed with some pasta cooking water to make a creamy sauce.

You only need to cream ⅓ of the zucchini slices. The rest are left whole. Not all Italian recipes for spaghetti alla Nerano call for these steps, nor does the Stanley Tucci version. But, I think it makes this dish creamier and richer.

Pasta alla Nerano is a very simple but tasty vegetable pasta recipe particularly good in summer when basil and zucchini are in season. I’m sure that once you have tried it you will come back to it time and again, as I do.

If you do try this spaghetti alla Nerano recipe, I’d love to hear what you think. Please write a comment here on the blog or post a comment on the Pasta Project Facebook page.

Your feedback means a lot to me!

Buon Appetito!

Here are my best spaghetti recipes, and other delicious pasta recipes with zucchini:

1. Pasta with zucchini flowers, saffron and ham
2. Farfalle pasta with smoked salmon and zucchini
3. Orecchiette with zucchini and speck
4. Pasta with saffron and zucchini

N.B. This recipe was originally published in 2017 but has been updated and tweaked since my visit to Nerano.

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Spaghetti alla Nerano (pasta with fried zucchini)

Jacqui

Spaghetti alla Nerano made famous by Stanley Tucci in his Searching for Italy series is an excellent and delicious example of a simple but exquisite vegetable pasta recipe from Southern Italy. It includes ingredients typical of Neapolitan cuisine such as zucchini, garlic, basil and provolone cheese and is easy to make.

5 from 76 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Campania, Mediterranean, Neapolitan, Southern Italian

Servings 4

Calories 491 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 14 ounces spaghetti or linguine
• 1.5 pounds zucchini
• ½ cup olive oil extra virgin
• 2 cloves garlic peeled
• 4.25 ounces grated Provolone cheese preferably Provolone del Monaco, spicy provolone or caciocavallo (see notes)
• 1 handful fresh basil leaves. washed and torn into pieces
• salt for pasta and to taste
• pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Wash and cut the zucchini into thin slices, pat them dry with kitchen paper and then fry them in extra virgin olive oil until browned on both sides
• Once fried, put the slices on paper towels to remove the excess oil.
• Meanwhile boil the pasta in plenty of lightly salted water until al dente and drain, keeping aside a large cup of the cooking water.
• Heat some more olive oil in a frying pan with the 2 garlic cloves and cook taking care not to burn the garlic. 
• Immerse the zucchini slices in boiling water for 4 or 5 seconds, then cream ⅓ of them either by mashing through a sieve or briefly liquidizing in a food blender with some of the pasta cooking water.
• Remove the garlic and add the cream of zucchini and the zucchini slices to the pan and then stir in the cooked spaghetti. If the dish appears too dry add some of the saved pasta cooking water. Continue to stir over a low heat for a minute.
• Stir in the grated provolone until it starts to melt and become creamy. Add more pasta water if necessary. You want a really creamy and cheesy sauce.
• Season with a sprinkling of pepper and salt as required, Serve with the basil leaves torn into pieces and some extra grated provolone to taste.

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Notes

Spaghetti is the traditional pasta for this recipe but other long pasta such as linguine work well too.
Although the original recipe I followed calls for Provolone del Monaco, this cheese isn’t available everywhere, However there are other spicy provolone cheeses produced in Northern Italy and even in America which can be used instead. You can also use caciocavallo, pecorino or parmigiano.

Vegetarians should use a vegetarian parmesan or provolone.

Like many Italian pasta recipes there are slightly different versions of alla Nerano. Not all include creaming part of the fried zucchini and some add butter to the dish before serving. Instead of creaming some of the zucchini, you can just mash it with a fork.

Nutrition

Calories: 491kcalCarbohydrates: 81gProtein: 22gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 202mgPotassium: 722mgFiber: 5gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 597IUVitamin C: 32mgCalcium: 242mgIron: 2mg

Keyword alla Nerano, zucchini pasta

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If you are interested in learning how to make homemade pasta and different types of gnocchi, check out my shop page for some great video online courses from my friends in Rome! Nothing beats learning to make pasta from Italians! Plus while you’re there why not order a copy of one of my pasta recipe cookbooks or checkout some traditional pasta making tools? All great prezzies for pasta lovers!