Palmabella's Passions

Judith came to visit me and spend a day in Rome. She brought me lovely gifts of Italian magazines and movies, an Umbria cookbook, and an Italian cooking magazine. On my flight home, I read the magazine, and came up with this idea replacing the tomatoes in their recipe with zucchini and pancetta.

1/2 lb. farfalle pasta
about 2/3 of an 8 oz. container of mozzarella balls (ciliegine)
2 small zucchini, grated
2 oz. chopped pancetta
1 T. olive oil

more olive oil for frying
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
parmigiano to taste

About 30 minutes before cooking, remove the mozzarella balls you are going to use from the container, and wrap them in a dry paper towel in the fridge. (They will fry better if they are not too moist.)

While the farfalle are boiling, quickly saute pancetta and then grated zucchini. Remove from heat. In another small saucepan heat about an inch of olive oil over medium- high heat. Roll mozzarella balls in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Fry a few at a time for just a few seconds in the hot oil, and drain on paper towels.

Toss hot pasta with zucchini-pancetta mixture, then top with basil, fried mozzarella, and parmigiano to taste. Brad LOVED this pasta!