Fettucine with Zucchini Blossom Sauce

Quartered and ready for duty

Farmers market redux....ahhhh, squash blossom season!

Most people fry them, and they are delectable that way, but I like looking for new ways to use them. I have stuffed them with ricotta, garlic and Parmesan, just like to some frying recipes, but eaten them as is, raw. They are delicate and beautiful. 

In looking through my cookbooks, I couldn't find inspiration. Suzanne Goin let me down by only mentioning them ONCE in her two great books, Sunday Suppers at Lucques and the AOC Cookbook. In that one mention, it was a typical fried treatment but with a green Romesco sauce to go along. Deborah Madison's Vegetable Literacy, which is so beautiful it could be a coffee table book (if I had a coffee table) was slightly different, offering a frittata, but I just didn't feel like a bunch of egg custard. Marcella Hazan fries them, and so on, and so on.

But on The Interwebs, I found a lovely pasta dish. It really hit the spot. It's basically mirepoix in a stock reduction with a little egg yolk to enrich it. A green salad along side is probably all you need, or go sans salad. I doubled the recipe to use a pound of pasta and have leftovers galore. I went with fettucine.

Mangia!

Pappardelle with Zucchini Blossom Sauce

Adapted Giuliano Bugialli’s Bugialli on Pasta

 Good-tasting olive oil

1 Tbs unsalted butter

1 medium red onion, finely chopped

1 stalk of celery, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

Leaves from 10 sprigs Italian parsley, finely chopped

12 zucchini blossoms, quartered from stem to tip

Salt

6 saffron threads

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth, preferably homemade (see note above)

1 egg yolk

½ lb. pappardelle

Pecorino Romano, finely grated

Put a large pot of salted water over high heat; this will be your pasta pot.

In a large skillet, warm a splash of olive oil and the butter over medium heat. Add the red onion, celery, carrot, and Italian parsley, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are translucent. Add the zucchini blossoms, a pinch or two of salt, and the saffron, and stir gently to mix. Add about ¾ cup of broth, and stir to combine. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the rest of the broth a splash or two at a time, taking about 5-8 minutes to add it all. Stir frequently. Allow the sauce to simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated and only a thin film of thickened broth remains in the pan. Remove from the heat.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk slightly with a fork.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta until tender but al dente. When the pasta is almost ready, place the zucchini blossom sauce back over medium heat. Use a small measuring cup to scoop up about 3 Tbs of pasta water and, whisking constantly with a fork, gradually add the hot water to the egg yolk: together, they should make a loose, pale yellow liquid. Pour this mixture into the sauce in the skillet, stirring well. Using tongs or a spider, scoop the finished pasta from its pot into the skillet, and toss with the sauce over medium heat for about 30 seconds.

Serve, topped with grated Pecorino.