Name: Orecchiette with Vegetable Sauce (Orecchiette alla Salsa di Verdura)
Yield: 3-4 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 zucchini, about 4 ounces, quartered lengthwise and cut in 1-inch strips; ¾ cup water or vegetable broth; 1 red or yellow pepper, cut in small pieces; 1 carrot, cut in small pieces; Salt and pepper to taste; Grated parmigiano; 2½ cups orecchiette, fresh or store-bought; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 medium onion, minced; 6 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces; ½ teaspoon flour; 1 clove garlic, minced; 1 small ripe tomato, cut in small pieces, drained, and seeds removed

Preparation info

3-4
servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Authentic Pasta Book

By Fred Plotkin

Published 1989

About

This recipe has been in use for more than a century in a family I know in Como. This may strike you as unusual on two counts. One is that orecchiette are traditional pasta in Apulia, which is a long way from Como. This is very true; the answer is that one of the great-grandmothers was from Lecce, but she married a comasco. The other oddity is that a recipe would be in use continuously for generations by one family. In Italy, many families keep albums of recipes handed down through th