A carb-free, gluten-free way to pretend you're having pasta. You can use any assortment of chilies you want to give this a depth of flavor, and you can vary the amount and types of chilis, depending on the spice tolerance of your guests.
2 Pounds Zucchini
4 Tablespoons Kosher Salt
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Ounces Pancetta, diced
1/4 Cup Pine Nuts
4 Cloves Garlic, minced with the Joseph Joseph Garlic Rocker
3 Serrano Pepper, diced fine (I use the Norpro Big Mouth Chopper for all the chilis)
3 Black Hungarian Peppers, diced fine
6 Large Basil Leaves, torn into small pieces
Parmesan Cheese
- Cut the zucchini in 2-3 inch lengths. Using a mandoline with a julienne setting or the GEFU® Spirelli, julienne the zucchini, discarding the seedy center (it makes a great handle while you’re jullienning).
- Mix the salt with the julienned zucchini and drain for 1 hour or more (the longer, the better).
- Rinse the zucchini, drain, and then pat very dry with several layers of paper towel. (Don't skip this step, we put 2 layers of paper towel on the top and bottom, flip, put new paper towels, about half a dozen times; if you don't do this, you get a watery result. However, with a good colander, it drained sufficiently, and we didn’t need to use paper towels)
- Heat pan, add oil, when hot add pancetta, then add pine nuts, then garlic and peppers and sauté until starting to brown.
- Add zucchetti and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Divide among plates and top with basil
- Pass parmesan cheese.
- Enjoy!
Julienne the zucchini early in the day so that it can drain well. You will swear it tastes like pasta. The volume of zucchini will decrease, both because of the loss of water and because as the zucchetti softens, it takes up less space.
