Summertime Zucchini Pasta

Looking for a light and summery vegetable pasta dish? Look no farther. Using my favorite cooking techniques of using whatever you have and tossing it all in a pot together, even you can come up with something so deliciously flavorful and light yet filling such as this.

I love zucchini and summer squash, but I can easily eat too much of it early in the season. Too many dishes like stuffed zucchini and zucchini bread can leave me with a zucchini hangover. It's possible you might see dishes like that here, but probably not very often. Slicing zucchini thin, shredding it, or grilling it with some herbs, and tossing into dishes like these are probably my favorite ways of using it. Nothing fancy, but obviously your not here for that.

So play around with this, add what you have laying around, what needs to be used up. Add your favorite seasonings and fresh herbs you having growing. Or just try it as you'll find below:

Summertime Zucchini Pasta
Printable Recipe
by Kacey's Kitchen

• 1/2 lb penne (or other pasta of your liking)
• 1/2 medium sized zucchini
• 2 roma tomatoes
• 3/4 white or yellow onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 handle fresh basil
• 1 tbsp EVOO
• 1 tbsp butter
  
• salt & pepper to taste
• crushed red pepper to taste

1. Boil water for pasta and cook al dente, draining when complete.
   
2. Meanwhile, prepare vegetables. Mince garlic, slice onion, dice tomatoes, shred basil, and julienne zucchini.
   
3. Heat EVOO & butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add garlic and onions, saute for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add zucchini and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.
5. Once zucchini is tender with a slight crunch, about 5 minutes, add basil and season with salt, pepper, and crushed red peppers.
6. Toss with pasta a serve.