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Food & Drink

Make Stanley Tucci’s Favorite Pasta With This Recipe

Angelo Coassin | PUBLISHED: October 26, 2023

Angelo Coassin
October 19, 2023

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Today we are traveling to the Campania region, in Southern Italy, precisely to the village of Nerano - a small fishing harbor on the Amalfi Coast. 

According to the story, the recipe for “Pasta alla Nerano” was created during the 1950s in a restaurant in the village to accommodate the night cravings of a prince who had suddenly shown up, Pupetto di Sirignano. 

The owner of the restaurant had almost nothing left in the cupboard apart from some zucchini, oil, salt and pepper, fresh basil and some leftover cheese. 

These few simple ingredients turned out to be perfect for a delicious pasta sauce that is now famous all over the world. 

Let me show you how to prepare our Spaghetti alla Nerano.

Ingredients (serves 4):

  • 12.7oz (360gr) spaghetti
  • 24.7oz (700gr) zucchini
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 5.3oz (150gr) grated Provolone cheese (or Gouda cheese, if you can’t find Provolone)
  • 0.7oz (20gr) fresh basil
  • 1.4oz (40gr) grated Parmigiano cheese
  • extra virgin olive oil, as needed
  • pasta water, as needed

Directions:

  • First of all, thinly slice the zucchini and fry them with a garlic clove in some oil until nice and crispy. Let the slices dry on some kitchen roll sheets to get rid of the excess oil.
  • Add your zucchini, Provolone cheese (or Gouda), fresh basil, Parmigiano, water and olive oil in a blender. Season with some salt if needed. The amount of liquids you should add depends on how much oil your zucchini absorbed during frying. I would personally start with ¼ glass of water and ¼ glass of olive oil. You can always add more if necessary - our goal is to have the same consistency as a pesto.
  • Cook your spaghetti in some salted water and, a couple of minutes before they are ready, take them off and mix them with your sauce. Add some pasta water as needed to have a beautiful and creamy consistency.

  • You can also decorate your spaghetti by adding some fried zucchini slices on top and make your dish even sexier! 

    Buon Appetito!

Angelo Coassin

Angelo Coassin is an Italian professional dancer, actor, passionate home cook, and creator of the page @cookingwithbello. In June 2021, Angelo launched his first cookbook “Bello’s Sexy Pasta”, a collection of his most delicious and authentic pasta recipes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Angelo Coassin

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