Cooking: Zucchini Pasta

Anyone who knows my relationship with food knows that I eat entirely too much candy. What they may not know is that I have a deep and abiding love for spring vegetables. The last year I lived in Mississippi, I had a backyard vegetable garden. But, despite having four massive zucchini plants, I only had one half-way decent zucchini (bugs, ugh). I managed to eat my way through my devastation, and had my share of spring peas and okra. I cooked fried green tomatoes like they were going out of style, and ate them directly from the pan for dinner.

Zucchini is still my favorite spring vegetable, and, over the past few months, I've eaten more zucchini pasta dishes than I care to count at Jason's Deli in Grandview (where they give you all the pickles you want and free soft-serve ice cream with every meal!).

Even that hasn't been enough to satisfy me, and I've developed my own at-home zucchini pasta recipe. It has a passing resemblance to that at Jason's Deli, and M even eats it on a regular basis without complaining about its lack of meat.

Zucchini Pasta

Ingredients:
2-3 medium sized zucchini
1 garlic clove
1 shallot
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Penne pasta (or similar, about 1/3 a box for two people)
Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Olive oil

Directions:
1) Boil water on medium-high heat.
2) Mince garlic and shallot. Chop zucchini into bite-sized pieces.
3) Blanch zucchini in boiling water about 1 minute, and remove onto a plate with a slotted spoon. Pat the zucchini dry to remove excess water. (I just press it a few times with a towel).
4) Cook pasta in the boiling water to package specifications.
5) Meanwhile, cook the shallot, garlic, and red pepper in 1 tablespoon olive oil on medium to medium-high heat for about 1 minute. Add the zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally until the zucchini is soft, but still retains its shape (about 8 minutes). Add salt and pepper to taste.
6) Drain the pasta and add the zucchini mixture, tossing. You should have a fairly even pasta-to-zucchini ratio.
9) Serve with (lots) of parmesan cheese on top.