28 minutes
A delightful pasta dish featuring ground lamb, fresh zucchini, and the aromatic touch of rosemary, all brought together with a rich tomato sauce.
tablespoons
Large Onion, thinly sliced
each
Fresh Rosemary, minced
tablespoons
Ground Lamb
0 lb
to taste
to taste
0.25 fluid ounces
Diced Tomatoes, canned
0 oz
Large Zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
0 lb
Rotini Or Rotelle Pasta
0 oz
Grated Romano Cheese, plus more as needed
0 oz
1. Sauté Onion and Rosemary
Begin by heating the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the thinly sliced onion and minced rosemary, and sauté for about 5 minutes until the onion becomes translucent and releases its sweetness, and the rosemary infuses the oil with its aroma.
2. Cook Ground Lamb
Add the ground lamb to the pan, season with coarse kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, for about 3 minutes. The lamb should brown nicely.
3. Add White Wine
Once the lamb is no longer pink, pour in the dry white wine. Allow it to boil for roughly 2 minutes until most of the liquid evaporates.
4. Simmer with Tomatoes and Zucchini
Stir in the canned diced tomatoes and the cubed zucchini, and let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes.
5. Cook Pasta
While the sauce simmers, cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water according to the package instructions, which should take around 11 minutes. Once the pasta is al dente, drain it well.
6. Combine Pasta with Sauce
Combine the cooked pasta with the lamb and zucchini sauce in the frying pan. Toss everything together so the pasta is well coated with the sauce.
7. Add Romano Cheese
Finally, mix in the grated Romano cheese, allowing it to melt and bind the sauce and pasta together beautifully. Taste the dish and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Start with the best quality lamb you can find — ideally, grass-fed for its flavor profile. Fresh rosemary is a must; its aromatic oils are pivotal to flavoring the dish, and dried rosemary just won't have the same impact.
Make sure your pan is hot before adding your lamb to get a good sear. Don't overcrowd the pan, or the lamb will steam instead of sear. Cook in batches if necessary.
Reserve some pasta cooking water before draining to create a silky sauce that clings to the pasta and adds moisture to the dish without diluting the flavors.
Deglaze the pan with a splash of white wine after cooking the lamb and zucchini to lift the delicious fond (browned bits) from the bottom of the pan.
Consider marinating the lamb in a mixture of finely chopped rosemary, garlic, olive oil, and a splash of red wine vinegar for at least an hour, or overnight in the fridge, to tenderize the meat and infuse it with aromatic rosemary.
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