What’s urfa?, you might ask. It’s a salty, spicy dried Turkish chili pepper, according to Google. But considering I didn’t have any in the house (although I just ordered some from Spicewalla now that I know my favorite foodie gal, Eden Grinshpan, uses it), I used Aleppo pepper in its place; which, apparently, was a fine substitute, as Stephan loved this pasta dish so much, he not only went for seconds but posted a pic of his empty bowl along with rave reviews on Instagram! Since we’re leaving for LA on Thursday (it’s our final Parents’ Weekend at USC!), I wanted to start using up the food in the fridge (including a few large zucchinis), so I decided to try this recipe, which I had spotted on @edeneats last week. Just watch her entertaining video showing how simple this dish is to prepare and you, too, will surely be inspired to make it. And you might also be inspired to post your empty bowl on your own Insta account!

Note: The photo above’s a bit blurry, as I grabbed a screenshot off the @edeneats video ‘cause I neglected to take a pic of my own creation.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• Casarecce pasta (or any pasta) 500g
• 3 medium sized zucchini, cut into batons (click video above to watch how Eden does it)
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 lemon zested and juiced
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated Parm, plus more to garnish
• 1 tablespoon urfa, plus more to garnish (can also sub with chili flakes, Aleppo, etc.)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Heat up a large pot of water and season heavily with kosher salt (like the sea). Bring to a boil.
In a large pan heat up 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil. Add in a couple handfuls of sliced zucchini to the pan and sear on one side until golden. Season the zucchini with kosher salt and cracked black pepper. When the zucchini is golden all over remove from the pan and sear the rest until golden all over. Use more olive oil if you need for this.
Place the pasta in pot of boiling water.
In the same pan where you sautéed the zucchini add in another 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil and add in the garlic. Lightly sauté and add in the urfa and season with salt and cracked black pepper. Add the zucchini back in and when the pasta is al dente add directly to the pan with the garlic and chili. Add a cup of water—I recommend adding half a cup of water and add more, as needed—juice and zest of 1 lemon and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. Using your spoon, mix the pasta together until the cheese melts in and a light sauce starts to come together. Check for seasoning and remove from the pan and garnish with more Parm, urfa, cracked black pepper, and extra virgin olive oil.
Enjoy!