Pasta with Zucchini

Name: Pasta with Zucchini
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2 tbsp EXAU Lina extra virgin olive oil, plus some for finishing; 3 - 4 garlic cloves, smashed or roughly chopped; 1 spicy pepper, cut in half, optional; 1 kg zucchini (5 medium zucchini), thinly sliced into half moons; 4 zucchini flowers, roughly chopped, optional; 2 sprigs fresh parsley, chopped; 280 g dry linguine, spaghetti, or rigatoni; 6 tbsp finely grated parmigiano reggiano

For this pasta with zucchini, you'll need extra virgin olive oil, zucchini, garlic, parmigiano reggiano, and of course pasta.

How to clean zucchini flowers (AKA squash blossoms)

Zucchini flowers are very fragile and go bad quite quickly, so only buy them a day or so ahead. And only clean them right before you make this recipe, otherwise they’ll wilt and become soggy.

Fill a bowl with water and gently submerge the flowers. Pick up one, we like to keep it submerged, so the water keeps the petals open. Then reach inside and pinch off the stamen or pistil.

Technically, the stamen and pistil are edible. But if not cooked for long enough can be bitter. Therefore, we just remove them. Don’t worry if the flowers tear or break because they’re going to cook down in the sauce. Rinse them and place them in a colander to drain.

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