Paul's Favorite (Pasta w/ Salami & Summer Squash)

This is another recipe from the late Jeff Smith, the Feudal Frugal Gourmet. I'll start with something very close to his original and then discuss modifications.

2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or minced
2 small summer squash (zucchini, crookneck, etc.), cut into matchsticks
1/4 lb. dry-cured Italian salami, cut into matchsticks
1 tbsp. capers, drained and chopped
1/2 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 lb. fettucine or other pasta, cooked
Grated parmesan, asiago, or other hard cheese

Try to get a decent Italian salami (it seems to be correlated with spelling it "salame", if that helps). In the Bay Area, Gallo, Molinari, and Columbus all sell "chubs", the stick of salami wrapped in some kind of paper and covered with a gray-white moldy substance. Elsewhere in the country, your mileage may vary. If you are desperate, you can cut prepared salami slices for this, but the result is a lot greasier. If you can only find German salami, abandon all hope and look at the variations below.

Heat the olive oil and saute the garlic in it just briefly. enough to be able to smell the cooked garlic, not so much as to brown it. Add the summer squash and saute, stirring regularly, until nearly tender, under 3 minutes. Add the salami and capers and some pepper, and stir for another minute at most. Add the cream and simmer until the sauce is reduced to your taste. Serve over the pasta, with the grated cheese on the side.

This makes a lot of sauce for 1/2 lb. of pasta; I routinely made this much -- maybe adding another squash and a little more cream -- to serve with a full pound of pasta. You can stretch the sauce by simply adding more cream; you may have to if you reduce it too far. This can be a vegetarian dish if you replace the salami with another squash or two.

For a slightly more upscale version, use 2-4 oz. of pancetta instead of salami; chop the pancetta finely and start off by cooking it in the pan on low until it is browned and the fat is rendered. Then remove the pancetta and use the fat, with olive oil added only as necessary, and proceed with the dish. Put the browned pancetta bits back in with the capers.