Guilty Pasta

The last couple weeks have involved some serious eating: between the graduation of a major beef lover and all the associated celebrations, the 30th birthday of his equally hungry brother (celebrated with at least six separate meals), and a bachelorette party full of chocolate-covered everything, there was no way to justify a major meal last night. That said, I wanted a major meal. Like pasta. With butter and cheese.

In the interest of assuaging both guilt and craving, I tweaked last week's Bittman recipe for pasta with peas, prosciutto, and lettuce (visit it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/dining/16mini.html) by cutting out most of the butter, and instead of flour-based pasta, using zucchini "fettuccine" as my base. Much less labor-intensive than making true pasta, all this involved was a potato peeler and a couple of firm, fresh zucchini.

Guilty Zucchini Pasta with Peas and Lettuce

(and for the carnivores, Crispy Prosciutto)

Ingredients:

• 2 large, firm zucchini
• ~1/2 Tbs butter (more if you'd like it richer; Bittman included a tablespoon or so of evoo as well)
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped
• 1/2- 2/3 box of frozen peas
• 1 head of butter or boston lettuce, tough/bruised exterior leaves removed, ripped into bite-sized pieces
• ~1/3 cup broth or white wine (I used chicken broth)
• ~1/4 cup loosely-packed freshly-grated parmesan, plus more to taste for topping
• Optional: Crispy prosciutto (see the Bittman recipe- fry bite-sized pieces of prosciutto in a little oil as if bacon; drain on paper towels and use shortly thereafter)

Put on a pot of heavily salted water to boil, large enough to accommodate your zucchini. While the water warms, move on...

Make your fauxtuccine by peeling long strips-- end to end-- from your zucchini, paying some attention to the angles you create so as to peel strips of the width you want. Stop when you reach the seeds, and discard the cores. Set zucchini aside.

Melt the butter in a large pan (large because it will ultimately have to accommodate the entire dish) on medium. Add the shallot, and saute until softened.

Add peas, stirring occasionally. When peas are largely defrosted, lower heat to medium-low. Add lettuce, and stir to combine. Some pieces of my lettuce turned a less-than-appealing brown, but this did not affect the flavor. Lowering the heat will likely help to combat the brown. Complete the remaining steps swifly so that the lettuce doesn't become overly limp.

Add zucchini to boiling water. Boil for about 90 seconds- just enough to warm them up and soften them slightly.

While zucchini boils, add broth to the pan with peas and lettuce, and stir to coat. Add cheese, and stir to combine.

Remove zucchini from heat, and drain. Add the drained zucchini to the pan with peas and lettuce, and toss. Remove from heat.

Serve, garnished with additional grated parmesan, and cripsy prosciutto if you so choose.