Zucca Fettucini

We are deep in the season of zucca (any orange/yellow winter squash) over here, which is great -- it's cheap, tasty stuff that will last for a while in the fridge and the smallest piece you can get anyone to sell you will feed two for several days.  But -- and I hate to admit this -- I've been getting a little bit bored with zucca ravioli and browned sage butter.  Or rather, it's not that I'm tired of the flavor, but I feel a bit of a cheat doing the same thing too many times. 

The idea behind this sauce was to make something that played more directly to the savory side of zucca, letting its sweetness simply be there rather than highlighting it with a pinch of nutmeg as is often done in ravioli filling.  To establish a base of savory, unami goodness (and an excellently meaty funk) I started by frying diced guanciale with a bit of olive oil (cured pork cheek, the more intensely flavorful lowbrow cousin of pancetta) until most of the fat had rendered out.  In a quest to increase the savory I then browned the diced chunks of baked zucca (in the guanciale and olive oil) and put them aside.  The pan got deglazed with dry vermouth (any excuse to add wine, but the acidic note works to balance the cream and meat) before adding cooking cream to make the sauce.  When the pasta was just about done cooking the guanciale and zucca went back in the cream, along with a bit of pasta water, followed shortly by the drained (and intentionally undercooked) pasta.  Everything was then allowed to macerate on low heat for a bit to let the flavors really integrate. 

There had been an especially bountiful crop of crumbs from the last batch of bread, which were just calling out to be used in something.  To these crumbs I added a handful of chopped filberts (hazelnuts, depending on what part of the country you're from) some paprika and sea salt and toasted them in olive oil until quite crispy.  This became the garnish for this (and the next couple of nights) pasta.

The balance here is what really makes it work:  The savory creaminess of the guanciale and cream is primary, but sweetness of the zucca really comes through and both of these elements play off the crunchy/salty/spicy nut and breadcrumb mixture to create a varied but balanced dish.