Spaghetti alla Nerano was invented on which Italian peninsula?

Spaghetti alla Nerano was invented on Italy’s Sorrento Peninsula.

The dish takes its name from Nerano, a village on the Sorrento Peninsula in Campania. Its classic preparation combines spaghetti with fried zucchini, cheese, olive oil, garlic, basil, salt and black pepper. Provolone del Monaco is particularly associated with the recipe, often joined by Parmesan to create a creamy sauce as the cheese melts into the pasta.

The most widely repeated origin story credits restaurant owner Maria Grazia, who is said to have created the dish in the mid-1950s. It began as a local specialty before becoming known beyond Nerano and the Amalfi Coast area. The recipe’s appeal comes from transforming simple summer zucchini into a rich, intensely savoury pasta.

The Sorrento Peninsula is sometimes confused with other southern Italian peninsulas, including Salento and Gargano. Those regions have their own culinary traditions, but they are not the birthplace generally attributed to spaghetti alla Nerano. “Nerano” itself is the key geographical clue in the dish’s name.