Zucchini Butter Pasta

 Zucchini Butter Pasta

Make a dent in your glut of summer zucchini with this weeknight-friendly pasta. Grating the zucchini, a technique embraced by Julia Child, allows it to become so tender that it melts into the buttery, cheesy sauce. Cooking the zucchini with vegetable stock over low heat highlights the fruit’s sweetness and prevents it from caramelizing, giving the sauce a creamy rather than charred finish. Once the butter and Parmesan are added, give the mixture a good stir to encourage the zucchini to melt into the liquid. As always with zucchini, its mellow earthy flavor lays dormant until it is seasoned, so be generous with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving

2 pounds zucchini (about 4 medium), coarsely grated

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped 

Salt and pepper

1 cup vegetable stock

¼ cup unsalted butter

1 pound fusilli or other short pasta 

1½ cups finely grated Parmesan, plus more for serving 

3 tablespoons lemon juice (from 2 lemons)

Big handful of basil leaves, torn

1 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

Heat a large 12-inch skillet on medium-high. When hot, drizzle with the olive oil and add the zucchini and garlic. Season generously with salt and pepper and stir to combine.

Add the stock, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the stock has reduced and the zucchini is very tender but not dry, 15 to 20 minutes. (There should still be a small amount of liquid.) Add the butter and stir until it is melted and zucchini has mostly broken down to form a thick, chunky sauce, about 2 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Reserve 1½ cups of pasta cooking water, then drain.

Add the drained pasta, Parmesan and lemon juice to the zucchini and stir to combine, adding some pasta cooking water to loosen it up. Taste and season again with salt and pepper.

To serve, drizzle with olive oil, and top with more grated Parmesan, the basil leaves and walnuts.