Mafalde With Creamy Zucchini Pesto & Pancetta
Mafalde with zucchini mint pesto and sweet pancetta is a delicate and refreshing pasta that is ready in less than 30 minutes.
But the beautify of this recipe is that you can prepare zucchini mint pesto in advance. In this case you cut prep time in half.
Not a bad thing when you’re starving, ha? 🙂
All you need to do is cook pasta according to directions on the package and proceed to the last step of this recipe.
Topped with roasted pine nuts, falovored with pancetta and generously drizzled with freshly grated Parmesan cheese it turns into a light, yet filling summer pasta plate.
Of course you can use Mafalde Pasta, Mafaldine or Mafalde Corte (Short Mafalde) – all traditional pastas from Naples, but due to creaminess and delicate taste of zucchini pesto it’ll work well with almost any kind of pasta.
But just in case you don’t have the sauce ready, it’s included in the recipe.
Mafalde With Creamy Zucchini & Mint Pesto
Ingredients
- 12 oz mafalde pasta
- 4 tbsp pine nuts for serving
- 1 cup/ 4 oz pancetta (smoked or sweet)
- 3 cloves garlic
For Zucchini Pesto:
- 1 zucchini medium size 7 oz
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves packed
- ¼ cup mix of grated Parmesan & Pecorino cheese
- ¼ extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp pine nuts for zucchini pesto
- 4-5 basil leaves
- Salt pepper to taste
Instructions
- Start by grating zucchini on a side grater into large shreds.
- Transfer to a strainer placed over a bowl. Add a pinch of salt, mix and wait for about 10 minutes until zucchini release the excess liquid.
- In the meantime bring water to a boil and cook pasta according to directions on the package.
- By this time zucchini should be ready. Transfer them and all pesto ingredients into a food processor. Pulse a couple of times until smooth but still a bit chunky texture.
- In a skillet pan brown 4 tbsp of pine nuts ( a tablespoon per person) and set them aside.
- To the same skillet add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, garlic cloves crushed with a flat knife and diced pancetta.
Once slightly browned add pasta and zucchini pesto. Toss everything for a few seconds. Serve immediately garnishing with pine nuts and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Buon Appetito!
