Silvia Colloca's zucchini cooked down in olive oil with bruised garlic until it almost melts, tossed through bucatini with chopped black and green olives, lemon zest and grated pecorino. A Sicilian-leaning summer pasta that lets the vegetable do the talking. Black pepper over the top.

The zucchini melt-down is the structural technique. Five zucchini chopped rough and cooked in extra virgin olive oil over medium heat for fifteen to twenty minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cell walls break down and the vegetable collapses into a sticky, almost-sauce consistency. The zucchini essentially becomes its own sauce; no cream, no tomato, no additional thickener needed.

Bruised garlic (cloves smashed with the back of a knife and left in their skins) is the Italian household trick that gives the dish its garlic perfume without the bite of chopped or minced garlic. The skins protect the cloves from burning over the long cook; the bruise releases the volatile oils into the surrounding olive oil. Fish out the cloves and skins before serving (or leave them in for whoever wants the soft, sweet jammy garlic at the bottom of the bowl).

Bucatini (the hollow long pasta strand) is the right shape because the hole through the centre catches the loose zucchini sauce in a way solid spaghetti cannot. The pasta finishes cooking in the pan with the zucchini and a splash of starchy pasta water; the starch emulsifies with the oil and the vegetable into a glossy coat. Olives, lemon zest, pecorino. A glass of cold Etna Bianco alongside if you want to keep it Sicilian.