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Giulia Scarpaleggia

Carbonara di Zucchine (Zucchini Carbonara)

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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.