What makes this pasta sauce recipe magic? Shazaam: the complaints about vegetables will disappear when this zucchini pasta sauce hits the dinner table. It’s a great way to hide the fact that you’re serving something healthy with the delicious carb-y goodness of chunky pasta. And zucchini is an extremely versatile vegetable that has more texture than most other veggies, so it’s a great “hidden veggie” started to get picky eaters to learn vegetables can be good.
Tips for Cooking Pasta with Zucchini
Zucchini can release water and become mushy if overcooked, so be mindful of the cooking time. Ideally, you want it to remain tender and slightly crisp. While it’s sautéing, you can also add some extra spices like crushed red pepper, black pepper, or paprika, if you want to add more flavor to the dish as you go. When you’re cooking the pasta, you want it to turn out al dente to get the best combination of the pasta and the zucchini mixture. So, start boiling the pasta just before you begin cooking the zucchini, so everything is ready at the same time. (And then cleaning up is as easy as cooking!)
Magical Zucchini Pasta Sauce
- Yield: Serves 8
Description
All your vegetable woes just disappear!
Ingredients
- 1 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced into ½-inch pieces
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 lb penne or other short, chunky pasta
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ lemon, zest and juice
- 12 large basil leaves
- 1 tsp capers
- 1 medium zucchini, quartered
Instructions
- Sauté zucchini, onion, and garlic in olive oil on medium heat for 20 minutes, until very soft but not browned.
- Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente.
- Puree zucchini mixture in a blender, adding lemon, basil, capers and ½ cup pasta cooking water.
- Serve in bowls topped with toasted, salted pistachios. Enjoy your magical zucchini pasta sauce!
Recipe and Styling by Selena Orkwis
Photography by Laura Petrilla
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