Spaghetti alla Nerano — zucchini pasta with a creamy cheese sauce

Wash the zucchini, trim the ends and weigh out 600 g. Cut into even slices about 3 mm thick and dry thoroughly. Grate the cheese very finely, lightly crush the garlic and dry the basil leaves. Have ready a frying pan about 26 cm across for frying and a second, wide pan for combining the pasta and sauce.

Heat 300 g olive oil in the frying pan over a medium-high heat: a zucchini slice should sizzle immediately when added, without darkening within seconds. Fry the zucchini in 6 small batches of about 100 g, spreading the slices in a single layer, for about 4–5 minutes per batch, turning them as they cook. Remove when the edges are lightly golden and the centers soft; do not brown them deeply. Drain in a metal strainer set over a bowl, then transfer to a platter, season with 2 g salt and mix with half the basil, torn by hand. Do not pour the remaining frying oil into the sauce. While frying the last two batches, bring 3000 ml water to the boil in a large saucepan for the pasta.

Add 18 g salt and the spaghetti to the boiling water. Cook for about 2 minutes less than the package's al dente timing, so a distinctly firmer core remains; the pasta will finish cooking in the pan for about 2 minutes at the end. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce as described in the next step. Towards the end of cooking, scoop 300 ml water from the saucepan into a measuring cup: this is part of the water already used for the pasta, not extra liquid.

While the spaghetti cooks, heat the remaining 20 g fresh olive oil with the crushed garlic in the second, wide pan over a low heat. After 2–3 minutes, when the garlic is fragrant and lightly golden, remove it and set aside; do not add it to the finished dish. Towards the end of the pasta's cooking time, add the fried zucchini with basil and 100 ml reserved pasta water to the pan. Heat gently for about 1 minute, stirring carefully.

Transfer the still-firm spaghetti straight to the pan with the zucchini and toss over a low heat for about 2 minutes, until al dente. If the liquid disappears, add a little of the remaining 200 ml reserved water to keep the pasta moist. Take the pan off the heat and wait about 1 minute, until the bubbling stops. Add all the cheese in 2–3 batches, tossing the pasta vigorously after each addition; add the rest of the reserved water a little at a time if needed. The sauce should be smooth and coat the strands, with some zucchini slices still whole. Do not bring the pasta and cheese back to the boil, as the sauce may split and the cheese clump. Discard any unused water.

Add all the black pepper and the remaining half of the basil, torn by hand. Divide the pasta, all the sauce and the zucchini into 4 portions. Serve immediately, while the sauce is creamy and loosely coats the spaghetti; it thickens quickly as it stands.