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.
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!).
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 ZucchiniZucchini Ribbon SaladZucchini BoatsMexican Quinoa RecipeGreek Grilled Veggie SkewersItalian Vegan Pasta Salad
This pasta with zucchini recipe is…
Vegetarian. For vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free, omit the Parmesan cheese. No reviews
