Campanelle in Italian means bell flowers. These ruffled bell-shaped pasta are a nice departure from the usual strand or tube. I thought that they would pair well with zucchini since this time of year zucchini are setting bloom to their spectacular flowers and earthy cremini mushrooms.

In order not to end up with a watery dish with slimy zucchini, I salted the cut zucchini and let it sit in a colander for half an hour to rid itself of excess water. In the picture you can see how they have become much firmer.

Salted zucchini, draining

While this was going on I toasted some breadcrumbs and sautéed the mushrooms, onions, and garlic.

Cremini mushrooms, onions, and garlic

Shortly before the pasta was ready I added the zucchini and cooked the sauce components together. John added the al dente pasta to the vegetables and I used about 3/4 cup of reserved pasta water to make a sauce. The finished pasta and vegetables were garnished with toasted panko  breadcrumbs and some good finishing olive oil.

Campanelle with mushrooms and zucchini

I would definitely make this again as it was easy, delicious and filled the kitchen with wonderful aromas. I wonder which one of us will get to eat the leftovers for lunch on Wednesday!