Zucchini Carbonara from Giulia Scarpaleggia’s Vegetables the Italian Way

Vegetables the Italian Way by Giulia Scarpaleggia has sold itself at Wild Sorrel. I call it the “farmers’ market cookbook”—perfect for when you return home with your bags full of summer’s bounty, eager to make something that puts the vegetables front and center.

Tuscan food writer and cooking class teacher Giulia Scarpaleggia lives in the countryside near Colle Val d’Elsa, one hour from Florence and a half hour from Siena. Her recipes represent the way Italians eat vegetables at home, cucina casalinga. Vegetables the Italian Way is one of those cookbooks where you want to make everything you see. Savory Potato & Squash Pie, Eggplant Caponata, Rigatoni with Summer Vegetable Sauce, even her Alpine Carrot Cake—but it is the Zucchini Carbonara that we’ve made three times at home, and will no doubt make again.

“Italians have a gift for making vegetables shine,” writes Giulia, “It’s about simplicity, balance, and an instinctive understanding of flavor—coaxing the best out of each ingredient with a few thoughtful touches. A drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt, maybe a squeeze of lemon, or a handful of herbs can transform even the humblest vegetables into something memorable.” It’s the handful of torn mint leaves that made the zucchini carbonara sing. Verissimo!

Giulia Scarpaleggia

Carbonara di Zucchine (Zucchini Carbonara)

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Servings: 4 servings

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Some dishes in Italian cuisine have become so iconic that their recipes are treated as sacred by purists. Amatriciana must never include onions or white wine—only tomatoes and guanciale. Carbonara? Absolutely no cream, and it must feature guanciale, not pancetta. Yet even these classic recipes were once evolving concepts rather than fixed culinary doctrines. So keep an open mind about this zucchini carbonara that offers a fresh seasonal twist on the beloved Roman classic. Crisp crescents of zucchini replace guanciale, mingling with creamy eggs, Parmigiano, and pecorino. The result is a lighter, vegetable forward homage to the original that may one day be an icon, too.

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 4 medium zucchini about 1 ¾ pounds/800 g total
• 1/3 cup/80 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves smashed and peeled
• Fine sea salt
• 2 large eggs
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2 ¼ ounces/64 g Pecorino Romano cheese finely grated (about 11/4 cups firmly packed), plus more for serving
• 1 ½ ounces/43 g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese finely grated (about 3/4 cup firmly packed)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 14 ounces/400 g rigatoni
• Fresh mint leaves torn if too big

Method

 

1. Trim the zucchini and halve lengthwise. Very thinly slice each half crosswise into crescents and set aside.
2. Pour the oil into a large skillet, add the garlic, and warm over medium heat until you can smell the garlic aroma, about 2 minutes. Add the sliced zucchini and cook, stirring from time to time, until it gets soft but not mushy, and golden brown in spots, about 15 minutes. Taste and season with salt, then set aside.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and salt it not too generously, as the pecorino is already quite salty.
4. While the water heats, prepare the eggs for the carbonara: In a medium bowl, stir together the whole eggs, egg yolks, pecorino, Parmigiano, a pinch of salt (not too much as the pecorino is already quite salty), and lots of pepper. Whisk with a fork until you get a thick paste and set aside.
5. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente according to the package directions.
6. When you are almost ready to drain the pasta, reheat the zucchini in the pan over medium heat.
7. Reserving some of the pasta water, drain the pasta and toss it into the pan with the zucchini, stirring it until it gets glossy with oil.
8. Take the pan off the heat and pour in the beaten egg–cheese mixture and a splash of pasta water. Toss and swirl the pan vigorously. The heat of the pasta and zucchini will work on the eggs to create a rich, creamy sauce that will coat each rigatoni.
9. Add a few leaves of fresh mint, and serve immediately, bringing extra pecorino and pepper to the table for those who want it.

Notes

Excerpted from Vegetables the Italian Way: Turning Simple and Fresh into Extraordinary. © 2026 Giulia Scarpaleggia. Photograph ©Tommaso Galli. Reproduced with permission of Artisan Books. All rights reserved.