Cycle 17 – Item 261

Post 6,105

23 (Wed) September 2026

Spaghetti alla Nerano

2.5

by me

at home

-Oksu, Seongdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with W and IZ

Spaghetti alla Nerano is an Italian dish.  Zucchini is sliced into thin rounds, pan-fried in oil (traditionally, sunflower oil), then tossed with spaghetti + cheese (traditionally, provolone del Monaco) + pasta water to create a creamy sauce.  The name refers to the town of Nerano, where the dish is reputed to have been invented.

I learned of the dish back in 2021 on the CNN docuseries Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy.  On the very first episode, “Naples and the Amalfi Coast,” Stanley and his wife visit the restaurant Lo Scoglio da Tommaso in Nerano, where they receive a masterclass from the head chef on cooking the dish.  The restaurant takes the extra step of resting the zucchini overnight.

Now everyone on YouTube is making it, including Kenji, who calls it “my new favorite pasta” (see The Pasta Dish that Made Me Rethink Zucchini).

Meh.  I found the zucchini to be bland, maybe slightly bitter, whether because Korean zucchini just taste that way, or they’re out of season, or the olive oil got too hot (the remaining oil was a bit dark).  I might try again with aehobak, usually sweeter than zucchini (see for comparison 4.084 Taste Test: A vs Z).

On the bright side, emulsification was successfully achieved (see for comparison 15.303 (Not) Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe).  The key is to start with a lot of pasta water and butter then agitating/tossing everything very rigorously for at least a minute until a sauce begins to form, then adding the cheese, which gets smoothly absorbed.

(See RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)

(See GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See HANSIK)

(See BOOZE)