The good thing about Carl going out of town is that my grocery bill is literally cut in half. The bad news is I have 4 boys who will be teenagers before I know it, and this makes me realize that I don’t think we’ll be able to afford to feed them anything but noodles if they start eating in similar quantities.
The good news is I make a mean noodle dish, and recently added another one to my repertoire.
While I already have a recipe for perfect zucchini muffins, and another for an amazing chocolate zucchini cake, I have very few zucchini recipes where the zucchini really shines. I feel like I’m generally hiding zucchini in other things, so I love that this dish has straight-up obvious ribbons of zucchini packed throughout it.
I was initially sceptical about the amount of zucchini called for, so I only used one, but now you can take it from me: more zucchini = more delicious. If you only have one zucchini, you can definitely still make this, and just have more pasta than veggie, but if you want a more equal ratio, keep slicing those zucchinis. I used my regular vegetable peeler and it made perfect thin strips. I imagine the slicer feature on a box grater would be fabulous too, or you can just go slightly thicker with a good sharp knife.
Carl’s aunt has sent me this recipe two zucchini-seasons in a row, so I knew it was a must-make – I shouldn’t have waited the extra year! I made some substitutions based on what I had around, and it’s definitely one we’ll be making often. Super simple, fresh, and tasty, this is a perfect light summer meal. It’s great all on it’s own with a chunk of crusty bread, and it was also great alongside fresh salmon and garden green beans. Leftovers reheated well too, as pasta usually does.
Grab your zucchinis off the vine before they get too big and unwieldy, or go buy some of these nice little squash, and add this to your plans for the week.
- 10 oz dried spaghetti
- 3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 6 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Cook spaghetti according to package directions, stirring occasionally so the strands of pasta don't stick together. When the pasta is just cooked, drain it in a colander, and toss it with a little olive oil to lightly coat the pasta and prevent the strands from sticking together. Set it aside.
- For the sauce, in large pan (you can use the same one from the noodles), heat the 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the zucchini and sauté for 4-5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and basil and sauté for a couple more minutes.
- Add the cooked spaghetti to the sauce pan and heat through, then mix in the cheese and lemon zest, and season with a little salt and plenty of black pepper.
- Serve with a little more grated cheese on top, or a sprinkle of fresh basil.
Adapted from Food: Vegetarian Home Cooking via Oh My Veggies.
Leave a Reply