Pasta alla Nerano is one of the most popular summer recipes, right after rice salad and pasta alla crudaiola. All it takes is the right ingredients, and although the method may seem a bit elaborate, it’s not actually that difficult. The main ingredients in the recipe are courgettes and Provolone del Monaco DOP, a stretched-curd cheese from the Monti Lattari in Campania, produced in the Agerola area. The milk used to make it mainly comes from Agerolese cows.
As Crescenzo Morlando of the popular Milanese deli CreDa suggests, the secrets to perfect Pasta alla Nerano lie in the courgettes:
“Before frying them, like my grandmother used to do, it’s recommended to leave them out to dry in the sun so that during frying they don’t absorb too much oil”;
and in the Provolone del Monaco, which must be “an excellent provolone with a good level of savouriness.”
Spaghetti alla Nerano: the CreDa Milano recipe
Ingredients for 4 people
- 320 g spaghetti
- 700 g light green courgettes
- 150 g Provolone del Monaco
- 50 g grated Parmigiano Reggiano DOP
- 2 bunches of fresh basil
- 30 g extra virgin olive oil
- 1 litre sunflower seed oil (for frying)
- Fine salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
Method
Wash the courgettes and cut them into not-too-thin rounds. Heat a generous amount of sunflower oil to 180°C. Fry the courgettes until evenly golden, then drain them on absorbent paper to remove any excess oil.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the spaghetti. Meanwhile, in a large pan, heat the extra virgin olive oil, add the fried courgettes and some torn fresh basil. Add a ladle of pasta cooking water to the courgettes and let everything infuse over a medium heat.
Drain the spaghetti 2 minutes before the end of cooking and transfer it to the pan. Continue cooking like a risotto, stirring the pasta with the sauce.
With the heat off, add the grated Parmigiano and the Provolone del Monaco, either grated or in thin shavings. Stir thoroughly until the sauce becomes creamy. Adjust salt and pepper to taste, and finish with more fresh basil.
Serve the spaghetti piping hot, garnished with a few extra shavings of raw Provolone del Monaco.
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