Zucchini and Ricotta Sauce

We made this sauce in our Torinese cooking class. In Italian it is called sugo alle zucchine e ricotta. We ate it atop fresh spaghetti that we made. It would also be great on a penne.

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

  • 1lb  zucchini (about 3 medium-sized)
  • 2 ounces ricotta cheese
  • 1 ounce pecorino cheese
  • 1 onion (less if you don’t LOVE onion)
  • 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
  • basil leaves

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

  1. Cut one and 1/2 zucchini into matchsticks (which will be cooked).
  2. Chop the onion.
  3. Dice the remaining zucchini. Mix the diced zucchini with the basil leaves (diced/shredded small), a tablespoon of ricotta, the pecorino cheese and the olive oil.
  4. Cook the matchstick zucchini in a pan with the chopped onion, first browning  the onions and then add the zucchini. Cook until soft. Remove from heat.
  5. Combine the cooked zucchini/onions with the ricotta/zucchini mix.
  6. Do not cook the ricotta/zucchini mix!

[/directions]

As with Italian cooking, even our printed directions (in Italian) were a bit vague on time to cook, etc. However, the taste of the cooked zucchini/onion mixed with the fresh ricotta cheese/zucchini is really incredible. Enjoy!