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This pasta with zucchini is everything summer: mix noodles with ripe tomatoes, zucchini, herbs, and Parmesan cheese and you’ve got dinner in a flash.
Packed with delicate herbs, pungent garlic, crisp zucchini, and juicy tomatoes, this pasta with zucchini literally screams SUMMER! It’s one for those beautiful patio meals with a glass of frose in hand, to pair with a carefree summer salad. Oh and it takes only about 20 minutes to make! In the time that you boil the water for the pasta, you can chop up the veggies and herbs. And there’s no sauteeing involved. Just raw, beautiful vegetables! Keep reading for the pasta with zucchini recipe.
Related: Summer Dinner Recipes to Eat Al Fresco
How to make pasta with zucchini
This pasta with zucchini was the second recipe we ever posted on this blog back in August 2010. We had picked up the tomatoes from a local farm stand and they were perfectly ripe. The flavor was summer in a bowl. I wrote a post about how it was “the best pasta ever.” A few weeks ago, I came across the photo by chance on Pinterest and remembered how much we liked the recipe. We decided to revive this one from the archives for old time’s sake.
This pasta with zucchini is truly so simple to make: the only cooking involved is the pasta! The zucchini, tomatoes and garlic become warmed as they’re stirred into the cooked noodles. What really makes the recipe is quality ingredients. Make sure to find the best tomatoes and herbs you can find! For this recipe, we bought a couple heirloom tomatoes from our local food stand and they were amazing. It’s vital that you use the best quality tomatoes to let this dish really shine. Although we used one large yellow and one large red tomato in this recipe, fresh cherry tomatoes would also work. You might even be able to get away with not cutting cherry tomatoes in half, depending on how large they are and how much you enjoy tomato.
When making this pasta with zucchini, we kept the method and ingredients mostly the same as the first time around, adding a bit more flavor and condensing some steps. It was as delicious as we remembered – a great summer pasta recipe for dinner guests, or even something quick to whip up after a day at the office. We hope you have some tomatoes and zucchini to try this out on! And it’s perfect for using fresh garden herbs: you’ll use both basil and parsley (or you can use only basil if desired!).
Related: Orecchiette Pasta with Lemon Asparagus | Creamy Vegan Pasta Marinara
Growing fresh herbs
Do you grow your own herbs? Since this recipe uses both fresh basil and parsley, we wanted to emphasize how easy it is to grow herbs at home. You don’t even need any garden space! All you need is a sunny ledge and you can grow herbs in a pot. Basil is one of our favorite herbs to grow, and can be used in SO many different recipes, like our Simple Basil Walnut Pesto, Grilled Cheese with Tomato & Basil, and Tomato Basil Gnocchi Soup. Want to get started? Here’s How to Grow Herbs.
Other ways to use zucchini
We’re all about creativity when it comes to using up zucchini. Zucchini bread and muffins are delicious and all, but we like thinking outside the box: like zucchini ribbon salad or chocolate cake! Here are some of our favorite ways to use up zucchini, outside of this zucchini ribbon salad:
- Amazing Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
- Grilled Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini
- Zucchini Ribbon Salad
- Zucchini Boats
- Mexican Quinoa Recipe
- Greek Grilled Veggie Skewers
- Italian Vegan Pasta Salad
This pasta with zucchini recipe is…
Vegetarian. For vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free, omit the Parmesan cheese.
Summer Pasta with Zuccchini
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 1x
Description
This pasta with zucchini is everything summer: mix noodles with ripe tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, and Parmesan cheese and you’ve got dinner in a flash.
Ingredients
- 1 pound whole wheat linguine (or other pasta of choice)
- 1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes (1 red and 1 yellow)
- 2 small zucchini
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; cook the pasta until al dente, following the package instructions (but start taste testing the pasta a few minutes earlier than instructed).
- Meanwhile, core and finely chop the tomatoes. Thinly slice the zucchini. Chop the basil and parsley. Mince the garlic. If not already grated, grate the Parmesan cheese.
- In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, basil, parsley, and garlic, along with kosher salt and olive oil.
- When the pasta is done, drain it and add it to the bowl of tomatoes; add the zucchini and toss well. Add the Parmesan cheese and toss again.
- Serve topped with more grated cheese and freshly ground pepper.
Notes
Inspired by Andreas Viestad in Food and Wine Original post on A Couple Cooks
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian Inspired
Without a doubt some of my favourite pasta flavours, sometimes simple is perfect :)
Sophie
http://what-sophie-said.blogspot.co.uk/
xxx
What strikes me about this recipe is how lovely it is, and so simple. And people still think that cooking is challenging!!! So silly!
I love when you say it’s important to give yourself grace during the learning process. It’s true that in spite of cringing at our early recipes/photos, they show where we’ve come from and the progress we’ve made. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. This will surely resonate with many of us reading. And this pasta looks like the perfect way to celebrate all of summer’s produce before the season ends.
Simple but summery and so delicious!
Love the simplicity of this pasta! Perfect summer flavours too :)