This pancetta and zucchini pasta only takes 20 minutes to make but packs in so much flavor!
Welcome to the second post of the "work from home pasta lunch" series (see the first post i the series - easy tuna spaghetti)! It's a series where I'm sharing easy pasta dishes you can make at home for lunch. All the dishes in the series are made for one person, so they call for 100 grams of pasta, which is a standard pasta serving for one person.
This pasta uses pancetta (pork belly) and zucchini, and paired with rigatoni, it makes a delicious lunch (or dinner for that matter!)
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Pancetta
- Zucchini
- Rigatoni
- Parmigiano reggiano
- Salt
How to make it - step by step
Bring a pot of water to boil. When it's boiling, add salt. Throw the pasta in and cook until it's just before al dente – this is important because the pasta will finish cooking in the sauce.
While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the pancetta and cook until fat is rendered and slightly crispy, about 5 minutes (photo 1) Remove from the pan, leaving any fat from the pancetta in the pan, and set aside.
Add the zucchini to the pan, salt it lightly, and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the pancetta back in (photo 2&3)
Add the pasta to the pan, along with a little bit of pasta water (photo 4) and with the heat still on, mix with a wooden spoon, about 2 minutes.
Add the parmigiano and mix again (photo 5)
Plate, top with more parmigiano and serve (photo 6)
Top tips
- The zucchini I used was quite large so I cut it into quarter slices, but you can also cut yours into half moons if you're using a smaller zucchini.
- You can use any short pasta for this dish - I used rigatoni because that's what I had on hand, but you can also penne, fusilli, farfalle, etc
More easy pasta dishes
- Tuna Spaghetti | Work From Home Lunch Series
- Nonna’s Pasta Pomodoro
- Asparagus Pasta with Peas and Pancetta
If you’ve tried making this Zucchini and Pancetta Pasta, or any other recipe on the blog please let me know what you thought of it in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, AND PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’ve been up to.
Recipe
Pancetta and Zucchini Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup pancetta cut into 2 cm cubes
- 1 cup zucchini quarter-sliced
- 100 grams short pasta like rigatoni, fusilli, penne, farfalle, etc
- 3 tablespoon parmigiano reggiano
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to boil. When it's boiling, add salt. Throw the pasta in and cook until it's just before al dente - this is important because the pasta will finish cooking in the sauce.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the pancetta and cook until fat is rendered and slightly crispy, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan, leaving any fat from the pancetta in the pan, and set aside.
- Add the zucchini to the pan, salt it lightly, and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the pancetta back in.
- Add the pasta to the pan, along with a little bit of pasta water, and with the heat still on, mix with a wooden spoon, about 2 minutes. Add the parmigiano and mix again.
- Plate, top with more parmigiano and serve!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- The zucchini I used was quite large so I cut it into quarter slices, but you can also cut yours into half moons if you're using a smaller zucchini.
- You can use any short pasta for this dish - I used rigatoni because that's what I had on hand, but you can also penne, fusilli, farfalle, etc
Leave a Reply