Description
Fregola Sarda Pasta with Corn, Zucchini and Basil, sprinkled with pecorino. A fast and easy Italian-inspired meal that comes together in 30 minutes.
Ingredients
Units
- 8 ounces Fregola pasta ( 1 1/2 cups dry)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large shallot, diced
- 2 medium zucchini ( 3-4 cups diced)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- pinch chili flakes (or Aleppo chili flakes)
- 1 ear corn (2 cups, or use frozen, or frozen roasted ) see notes
- 1/3 -1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese
- 15-20 basil leaves
- zest of one lemon
- Optional: 1/4 cup ricotta for extra creaminess
Instructions
- Cook fregola pasta in 8 cups of water with 1 tablespoon salt according to directions on the package, cook until al dente, and save a cup of hot pasta water.
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and zucchini and season with salt, and saute until the zucchini is translucent about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, pepper and chili flakes and cook a few more minutes, until the garlic is fragrant. Add the corn, and continue sauteeing, until the corn is tender, but still a little snappy, about 5-6 minutes.
- Add the cooked fregola pasta to the zucchini-corn mixture, drizzle with another tablespoon of olive oil, stir in the pecorino, basil and lemon zest.
- Add 1/4- ¾ cup pasta water to loosen, and more if you prefer it more “saucy”.
- Taste, season with more salt, or chili flakes if you like. If it tastes bland, it needs salt.
- Garnish with fresh basil and a sprinkling of pecorino.
- For extra richness, stir in a little ricotta. See notes.
Notes
The pecorino cheese makes this dish.
Feel free to char the corn (on a gas stove or grill) before cutting the kernels off.
This is a drier-style pasta dish just lightly coated in olive oil (kind of like couscous). For extra creaminess or a more saucy consistency, add more pasta water and stir in the ricotta.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ¼ cup
- Calories: 349
- Sugar: 6.6 g
- Sodium: 385 mg
- Fat: 10.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 54.7 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 11.9 g
- Cholesterol: 5.5 mg