🍝 Spaghetti alla Nerano
Spaghetti alla Nerano is a summer pasta from the Sorrento peninsula: slices of zucchini fried until soft and golden, then tossed with spaghetti, provolone (traditionally provolone del Monaco), butter and fresh basil. Part of the zucchini melts into a creamy, pale green sauce. It tastes gentle, sweet and cheesy, with a fresh basil finish.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 320 g spaghetti
- 600 g zucchini, thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp olive oil for frying
- 80 g provolone, finely grated
- 20 g butter
- A handful of basil leaves
- Salt and black pepper
Method
- Fry the zucchini slices in the oil in batches until soft and golden; drain and salt them.
- Set aside a few slices and lightly mash the rest in the pan.
- Cook the spaghetti until a little short of al dente; keep a cup of the cooking water.
- Add the pasta to the zucchini with a ladle of cooking water and cook for 1–2 minutes.
- Off the heat, stir in the butter, provolone and torn basil, tossing until creamy. Top with the reserved zucchini and pepper.
How to make it lighter
- Roast the zucchini in the oven with 1 tbsp of oil instead of frying them; 1 tbsp oil ≈ 120 kcal.
- Skip the butter — the cheese and cooking water still make it creamy.
- Use more zucchini and less pasta for a lighter, larger plate.
History
The dish is named after Nerano, a fishing village on the Sorrento peninsula near Massa Lubrense. Local accounts usually credit a restaurant there with creating it in the mid-twentieth century, and it has since become a signature pasta of the Amalfi and Sorrento coast.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →