Fire up taste buds with decadent pasta dinner
Punchy meal uses few ingredients
Zucchini pasta is a bit of a new obsession. After deep-frying paper-thin slices, the zucchini takes on a beautiful toasty flavour and silky texture which, when tossed through pasta, melts into a sauce of its own.
Paired with plump prawns and fiery ‘nduja, this pasta is a punchy meal that is impressive yet requires few ingredients.
If you’re not familiar with ‘nduja, it is a soft, spreadable cured pork sausage, flavoured with spicy Calabrian peppers.
Smoky, fatty, rich and tangy, it has an intense fiery taste and hue. Here in Taupō, you can find it at The Merchant. Trust me, you’ll be adding it to everything!
Prawn, zucchini and ‘nduja pasta
Ingredients
• 2 zucchini (250-300g), sliced 1-2mm thick (use a mandoline if possible)
• Oil for frying (such as rice bran or sunflower)
• 125g dried capellini or spaghetti
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1⁄2 tsp fennel seeds
• 150g prawns, shelled
• 1⁄4 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 Tbsp ‘nduja
• 1 tsp salt
• 50g parmesan, finely grated Method
1. Start by frying the zucchini. Heat about an 8cm depth of oil in a saucepan over mediumhigh heat. When hot (test the oil by adding a slice of zucchini — it should bubble immediately), add a portion of zucchini and fry for about three minutes on each side — until golden-brown and crisp. Adjust the heat as necessary. Transfer to paper towels to drain while you cook the rest of the zucchini in batches.
2. When ready to assemble, start by cooking the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water.
3. While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and fennel seeds, and cook for three minutes until fragrant.
4. Add the prawns and chilli flakes, and cook for two to three minutes until the prawns turn pink. Add the ‘nduja, salt and cooked zucchini, and stir through.
5. Transfer the cooked pasta to the pan along with 100ml of pasta water. Allow the liquid to simmer and reduce slightly, before adding the parmesan and tossing as it melts. Simmer until reduced to a thick and glossy sauce. Serve immediately.
Olivia Moore and her Taupō business That Green Olive offer recipe development, food photography — in studio or on location — for restaurants and cafes, recipe video creation and social media content creation. Go to Olivia’s website for more recipes: www. thatgreenolive.com.