If your idea of “cooking pasta” is boiling noodles and dumping jarred sauce on top, Stanley Tucci is about to ruin you for life — in the best way.
The actor-turned-food-icon (yes, the Devil Wears Prada guy) shared his go-to summer pasta recipe, and it’s the kind of dish that looks fancy, tastes like a restaurant made it, but is secretly one of the easiest things you’ll ever cook. The trick? One smart hack that lets you prep most of it ahead — so dinner takes minutes, not hours.
Here’s the breakdown, Gen Z-kitchen style: no fluff, just the moves.
What You Actually Need
Nothing weird. No 12-ingredient grocery list. Just:
- 400g spaghetti
- 6 medium courgettes (zucchini) — smaller ones, not the giant ones
- 200g Parmigiano Reggiano
- 50g salted butter
- 500ml sunflower oil (yes, sunflower, not olive — we’ll get to that)
- A drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil
- 30g fresh basil
That’s it. Six things standing between you and a genuinely elite pasta night.
Tip #1: Save Your Fancy Olive Oil
Here’s the twist. You’re not cooking with olive oil this time — you’re frying. And frying needs a deep pot, which means a lot of oil. Using your good, expensive olive oil for that would be a waste (and honestly, kind of a crime).
Tucci’s move: use cheap sunflower oil for frying, and save the nice olive oil for a finishing drizzle at the end. Small swap, big flavour payoff.
Tip #2: Smaller Courgettes = More Flavour
Bigger is not better here. Big courgettes are basically water with a green jacket on. Go for smaller, lighter-green ones — they fry up crispier and taste way more concentrated.
Slice them thin, and get ready to fry.
The Actual Cooking (This Part’s Quick)
- Heat your oil. Get it bubbling — this is shallow frying, so the pot should be at least half full.
- Fry the courgette slices until golden and browned.
- While that’s happening, boil your spaghetti. Multitasking level: unlocked. Don’t forget to scoop out a cup of the starchy pasta water before you drain it — this is liquid gold for later.
- Chop your basil while everything else is doing its thing.
- Drain the pasta, put it back in the pot. Add the butter, the fried courgettes, the fresh basil, and a good glug of olive oil.
- Splash in some pasta water and mix it all together — this is what makes the sauce silky instead of dry.
- Grate parmesan on top. As much as your heart desires. No judgment.
Done. That’s a whole dish that tastes way more complicated than it actually was.
The Real Genius Move: Prep It Ahead
This is the part that makes it perfect for actual real life — busy schedules, lazy weeknights, whatever.
Tucci’s tip: make the courgette-and-basil mix in advance and stash it in the fridge. It doesn’t just keep — it gets better overnight as the flavours settle in.
In his own words:
“The cool thing about this dish, you can make this zucchini [and] basil mixture in advance and put it in the fridge. It’ll be even better the next day. And then you just cook up the pasta, put the butter and cheese in, and you’re done.”
So the game plan for a busy week: fry the courgettes on Sunday, forget about it, then any night you want an actually good dinner, just boil pasta and toss it together. Ten minutes, tops.
Why This Recipe Just Hits Different
No complicated sauce simmering for hours. No 20 ingredients. No fancy equipment. Just smart choices — cheap oil for frying, good oil for finishing, smaller veggies for flavour, and a make-ahead hack that fits into an actual schedule.
Sometimes the best “unique” recipe isn’t about doing something wild — it’s about someone who’s cooked for decades finally showing you the shortcut nobody told you about.
Now go find some courgettes.
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