Penne with Zucchini & Pancetta
Another quickie for ya! This will be done in the amount of time it takes for your penne to cook! Awesome sauce! Seriously. I feel good about this one. Sure there’s a healthy amount of olive oil and some Italian bacon, but it has zucchini – so I’ll file under a win for a weeknight dinner.
Why put these things together? I don’t know, but it’s another one of those recipes that has been made in my family for a long time. Pancetta really makes everything tasty and this dish is no exception! Plus, I’ve said it before, you can’t go wrong with zucchini. Italians love their zucchini! It really picks up the flavor of whatever you mix with it. My only advice with zucchini would be not to cook the you know what out of it! Unless you’re going for zucchini puree, just watch your cooking time. Mushy zucchini is not fun.
That brings me back to this recipe. Like I said, this is a fast one. By chopping the zucchini and onions about the same size as the pancetta, it with hopefully only take a few minutes for the zucchini to cook through and still have a little bite! Everything should be done at the same time!
Feel free to add some Parmesan cheese if you like, I don’t think it needs it, but do what you like!
This is also amazing topped with some crushed red pepper if you like a little heat!
Penne with Zucchini & Pancetta
Ingredients
- 1 pound penne pasta
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 medium zucchini
- 4 ounces cubed pancetta
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves fresh garlic finley chopped
- salt & pepper
- 1/4 cup pasta water if needed
Instructions
- Wash you zucchini. Seed and chop the zucchini into bite sized cubes (leave the skin on). Set aside.
- Finely chop the onion and garlic.
- Get your pasta cooking.
- In a large saute pan, heat half the olive oil and add the pancetta. Fry until crispy.
- Add the remaining olive oil, zucchini, onion and garlic.
- Saute until the zucchini is cooked through. Don't over cook the zucchini. Taste testing is encouraged!
- After you have cooked your pasta al dente, drain it and add it to the saute pan with the other ingredients. Toss until incorporated. Add some pasta cooking water if it's too dry and not very "saucy." Usually you can skip this step as the olive oil should be enough to coat the pasta. Season with salt & pepper. Remove to a serving bowl and Enjoy!
