Beautiful Zucchini Carbonara

Jamie Oliver calls them courgettes, we call them zucchini or summer squash.  Whatever you call them, pick some fresh from your garden—or the Farmers' Market—and make this lovely carbonara.  You'll be so glad that you did!  Serve with a loaf of bread and a crisp white wine: Chenin or Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris.

* We sometimes throw in some fresh asparagus too, as the photo above shows.  There can never be too many opportunities to eat fresh asparagus!

Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
6 medium green and yellow Zucchini
1 lb. Penne
4 large Egg Yolks
½ C Cream
2 good handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Olive Oil
¾ lb. thickly sliced pancetta or smoked streaky bacon, cut into chunks
a small bunch of fresh Thyme, leaves picked and chopped, flowers reserved (if you can get hold of flowering thyme)
optional: a few Zucchini flowers

one or two bunches of Asparagus, top third of spears, bias cut in thirds, added with zucchini.

Put a large pan of salted water on to boil. Halve and then quarter any larger zucchini lengthways. Cut out and discard any fluffy middle bits, and slice the zucchini at an angle into pieces roughly the same size and shape as the penne. Smaller zucchini can simply be sliced finely. Your water will now be boiling, so add the penne to the pan and cook according to the packet instructions.

To make your creamy carbonara sauce, put the egg yolks into a bowl, add the cream and half the Parmesan, and mix together with a fork. Season lightly with salt and pepper and put to one side.

Heat a very large frying pan or 7 qt. pot, add a good splash of olive oil and fry the pancetta or bacon until dark brown and crisp. Add the zucchini slices and 2 big pinches of black pepper, not just to season but to give it a bit of a kick. Sprinkle in the thyme leaves, give everything a stir, so the zucchini become coated with all the lovely bacon-flavored oil, and fry until they start to turn lightly golden and have softened slightly.

It’s very important to get this next bit right or your carbonara could end up ruined. You need to work quickly. When the pasta is cooked, drain it, reserving a little of the cooking water. Immediately toss the pasta in the pan with the zucchini, bacon and lovely flavors, then remove from the heat and add a ladleful of the reserved cooking water and your creamy sauce. Stir together quickly. (No more cooking now, otherwise you’ll scramble the eggs.)

Get everyone around the table, ready to eat straight away. While you’re tossing the pasta and sauce, sprinkle in the rest of the Parmesan and a little more of the cooking water if needed, to give you a silky and shiny sauce. Taste quickly for seasoning. If you’ve managed to get any zucchini flowers, tear them over the top, then serve and eat immediately, as the sauce can become thick and stodgy if left too long.