Zucchini Pasta a la Tuscany

Siena House, a B&B centrally located within 20 minutes of over a dozen idyllic hill-top towns, taught me a life lesson in Italian Food Theory: Use ingredients fresh from the garden, keep preparation simple, and savor the flavors of the land. Their thriving organic garden was producing piles of summer zucchini while my husband and I were there, and this simple Zucchini dish was the result.

You wash a zucchini and use a julienne peeler to scrape off noodle-like shreds, stopping before you reach the mushy seed-filled interior. Then you toss your “noodles” with a pinch of salt and leave for about 10 minutes, until the zucchini shreds turn limp like noodles. Drain the excess water from your bowl and you have the makings of an excellent zucchini pasta salad.

In Tuscany, it’s enough to drizzle fresh Extra Virgin Olive Oil over your zucchini and sprinkle with pepper. I like to toss in chunks of tomato and mozzarella and add a dash of aged balsamic vinegar. And Presto!