Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Broken lasagna with Zucchini-Tomato Sauce


Tonight was pasta night.  I chose it because it had a refreshing twist on sauce and those of you with hundreds of zucchini in your garden will love it.  Serves 4, but unusually we have leftovers, Jim did not eat it all.  The sauce was very good and we enjoyed the taste of butter with the pasta instead of the usual EVOO. 
Ingredients:
Kosher salt
2 large zucchini (1 ¾#), coarsely grated
12 oz. lasagna noodles, broken into bite-size pieces, do not use no-boil (I used Croxetti.  They look like communion wafers.  Wheat is imprinted on one side and a coat of arms on the other.  They are round and perfectly flat, like broken lasagna noodles.)
3 T unsalted butter
2C cherry tomatoes (1 C whole, 1 C halved)
½ t finely grated lemon zest
Freshly ground pepper
1/2C grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
1 small bunch chives cut into 1” pieces
Directions:
1.      Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
2.      Meanwhile, toss the grated zucchini with ½ t salt in a colander set over a large bowl.  Let stand 10 minutes, and then gently squeeze out the excess moisture. 
3.      Add the pasta to the boiling water and stir vigorously to prevent it from sticking.  Cook until al dente, about 12 minutes.  Reserve ½ C of the cooking water, then drain the pasta. 
4.      Meanwhile, heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. 
5.      Add the cherry tomatoes and cook until blistered and slightly softened, about 4 minutes. 
6.      Stir in the zucchini and lemon zest and cook lightly crushing the tomatoes with a wooden spoon, until the zucchini is crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. 
7.      Season with salt and pepper. 
8.      Transfer the zucchini-tomato mixture to a large bowl.  Add the pasta and cheese and toss. 
9.      Stir in half the chives and about ¼ C reserved cooking water.  Add more if needed. 
10.  Divide among 4 bowls and top with remaining chives. 

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