This zucchini pasta recipe is loosely based on one found in Kathleen Flinn's The Kitchen Counter Cooking School. We got the book as a gift about a decade ago, and reading it back then had a major influence on my cooking. For one thing, it got me to switch to the "pinch" knife grip used by professional chefs. The book details Flinn's experience teaching cooking classes to a group of novice cooks. While I don't agree with everything in it, it's a good read for anyone who wants to get more creative in the kitchen. Rereading the book during the pandemic reminded me of an intriguing pasta dish that Flinn used to teach her students basic knife skills.
The basic concept is simple: cook zucchini for a long time, until it breaks down and becomes part of the sauce for the pasta. In principle, it's not far from my own crab pasta. Flinn's recipe uses a huge amount of zucchini relative to the pasta, which I've rebalanced. I also add some garlic, onions, and sausage to make it a complete, self-contained meal. The sausage I used for this dish are from Costco and are a staple in our house. They are fully cooked and easily frozen and reheated in a convection oven to add some meat to a meal with little effort. You can, of course, use any sausage you like, or none at all. Some fresh basil from the garden completes the dish, but can be left out if unavailable.
