Japanese Plates Part 2

Wine: Marina Cvetic Montepulciano S. Martino Rosso – 2003

This was the first dinner where we got to use our new Shigaraki dinner plates.

We started with a salad made from the last of the fresh Blenheim Apricots of this season. Besides being great tasting they are easy to pit!. To the salad we added Prosciutto and Almonds. We used Saba as the dressing.

We made a great vegetarian pasta. It is very easy and good. It is from a cookbook by Mark Bittman, The Minimalist Cooks at Home. He names the recipe: Spaghetti with Zucchini (Carbonara without the Bacon). We went to the Hollywood Farmer’s Market and bought some great fresh zucchini. The Parmesan cheese was from The Cheese Store of Silverlake.

Here is the recipe for the pasta.

Spaghetti with Zucchini (Carbonara without the Bacon)
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Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 or 4 or more small zucchini washed, trimmed, and cut into slices 1/8 to ¼ inch thick
2 eggs
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound spaghetti or linguine
½ cup roughly chopped mint, parsley or basil (we use fresh basil)


1. Salt water and bring to boil

2. Place olive oil in 10 to 12 inch skillet over medium high heat.
Add zucchini, cook stirring occasionally, until very tender and lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Season with a little salt and a lot of pepper.

3. Meanwhile, beat the eggs and ½ cup of the Parmesan together.
Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until tender but firm. When it is done, drain it and combine it immediately with the egg-cheese mixture, tossing until the egg appears cooked. Taste add more salt or pepper if necessary.

4. Toss in the herb and serve immediately, passing the remaining Parmesan at the table.

Very easy! Very Good!