Rigatoni with Speck and Zucchini Flowers

Rigatoni with speck and zucchini flowers is a simple and tasty dish, marrying the sweetness of zucchini flowers with the bold flavor of speck. Here is the recipe to make it:

Ingredients

• 320 grams of rigatoni
• 200 grams of zucchini flowers
• 150 grams of thinly sliced speck, cut into strips
• 1 small onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 100 ml of cream
• Extra virgin olive oil (to taste)
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
• A bunch of chopped parsley (optional)

Preparation

1. Start by cleaning the zucchini flowers, removing the stem, the internal pistils, and any impurities. Gently wash them and dry with kitchen paper. Then cut them into strips, not too thin.
2. Fry the finely chopped onion and garlic in a pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Once golden, remove the garlic.
3. Add the speck strips and brown it until it becomes crispy.
4. Add the zucchini flowers to the pan with speck and cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat, until they are tender but still crisp. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the rigatoni al dente, following the instructions on the package.
6. Drain the pasta saving some of the cooking water and transfer it to the pan with speck and zucchini flowers.
7. Add the cream to the rigatoni, and if necessary, some of the cooking water to create a light cream that binds the sauce to the pasta.
8. Stir everything over low heat for a few minutes, until the pasta is well seasoned.
9. Plate and, if desired, sprinkle with grated Parmesan and chopped parsley.

Serve immediately to enjoy the flavors of this delicious dish at their best.

Trivia

In this recipe, we have combined two typical ingredients of South Tyrol, speck, with one of the most appreciated edible flowers in Italian cuisine, zucchini flowers. The addition of cream creates a cream that binds together the smokiness of the speck with the delight of the flowers.