Try this zucchini and feta pasta with special crunchy topping that's cheap and easy to make at home

Cookbook author and culinary podcast host Dan Pashman set out to solve the "Good Morning America" $20 Dinner Challenge by tapping into his own title's theory that "Anything's Pastable."

Pashman came to Times Square on Wednesday equipped with a simple, but vibrant pasta dish that he said home cooks can adapt with the addition of chicken or another preferred protein. This, plus a simple salad topped with his garlic bread pangrattato -- a fun word for flavored, toasted breadcrumbs -- and dinner is served.

Check out his full recipe below.

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Zucchini and feta pasta with garlic bread pangrattato

Serves: 4 to 6
Total time: 50 minutes

"The technique for this pasta is inspired by the famed spaghetti alla Nerano, in which sliced zucchini is fried until tender and lightly golden, then a portion of that zucchini is mashed or blended with cheese, butter, and a splash of pasta water to create a creamy, emulsified sauce," he said.

"Here, we’re skipping the shallow fry and just using a generous amount of extra- virgin olive oil to cook the zucchini, which is flavored with garlic, chili flakes for a whisper of heat, and both lemon zest and lemon juice to balance the richness of the caramelized squash. Feta added at the end brings a salty, briny kick to the party, while a generous smattering of za’atar pangrattato lends crunch and aromatic herbaceousness," he continued.

All of the ingredients combined make for a great final result.

"We combine it all with fusilli lunghi bucati. Not to be confused with short fusilli, which is a garbage shape, this is a long, coiled, hollow tube, which legend has it was invented by Neapolitan housewives, who’d wrap bucatini around knitting needles to make tight corkscrews of pasta. While it is sauceable and toothsinkable, it’s actually not great in the forkability department— it can be hard to twirl and some strands may break— but it’s so fun to look at, I couldn’t resist including it."

Ingredients
For the Garlic Bread Pangrattato
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Pasta
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 cup extra- virgin olive oil
2 pounds small zucchini (6 to 8 zucchini), sliced into 1/4- inch rounds
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (depending on desired spiciness), plus more for serving
1 pound fusilli lunghi bucati (a.k.a. fusilli col buco and canule; or use bucatini, cavatappi, or fusilloni)
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest, plus 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
4 ounces feta cheese, coarsely crumbled (1 cup)
Flaky sea salt, for serving (optional but highly recommended)

Directions
1. Make the pangrattato: Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add the panko and cook, stirring and shaking the pan often, until the butter has been absorbed and the crumbs are just starting to turn golden, about 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic, garlic powder, and salt and cook, stirring often, until the crumbs are spotty brown and have darkened to the color of peanut butter, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a heatproof bowl or container and let cool completely. Set aside until ready to use.
2. Bring 4 quarts of water and 2 tablespoons of the salt to a boil in a large pot.
3. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven (or second large pot) over medium- high heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add the zucchini and cook undisturbed until the slices on the bottom are browned on one side, 5 to 7 minutes. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the salt, stir gently, and continue to cook, stirring often, until most of the zucchini is softened and slightly translucent and about a third is well browned, 8 to 12 minutes.
4. Use a slotted spoon to transfer one- third of the zucchini to a blender (or immersion blender) and set aside. Move the remaining zucchini to one side of the pot, add the garlic and red pepper flakes to the empty space, and cook until the garlic starts to color, about 1 minute. Stir, then remove the pot from the heat. (At this point the mixture can sit, covered, for up to 2 hours.)
5. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for 1 minute less than the low end of the package instructions. Reserve 2 cups of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta. Immediately return the pasta to the empty pot, cover, and set aside. Add 1 cup of the pasta water, the lemon zest and juice, and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt to the blender with the zucchini. Start blending on low, gradually increasing the speed to high. With the blender running, add the butter and blend until smooth, 30 to 45 seconds.
6. Return the pot with the sliced zucchini to medium heat and cook until it’s beginning to sizzle, about 1 minute. Add the pureed zucchini mixture and the pasta and toss until the sauce clings to the pasta, 1 to 3 minutes. (If the sauce seems too thick, add more pasta water 2 tablespoons at a time until it’s the consistency of heavy cream and pools slightly in the bottom of the pot.) Remove the pot from the heat and gently stir in the feta, leaving the big crumbles intact.
7. Transfer the pasta to a serving dish or individual bowls, sprinkle with some pangrattato and flaky sea salt, if desired, and serve with additional red pepper flakes and more pangrattato.

Recipes reprinted with permission From Anything’s Pastable by Dan Pashman. Copyright © 2024 by Sporkful, LLC. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.