Lemony Pasta With Zucchini and Fresh Herbs
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1pound fusilli or other short curvy pasta
- 1½pounds zucchini or other summer squash, or a combination, halved lengthwise and cut into ½- inch thick pieces
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 4tablespoons olive oil
- 2garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- ½teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- ½cup grated Pecorino or grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- 1½cups roughly chopped herbs, such as mint, basil, chervil, Italian parsley, plus more for garnish
- Flaky salt, for serving (optional)
Preparation
- Step 1
Bring a large pot of well-salted water (2 heaping tablespoons kosher salt to about 7 quarts water) to a boil. Add pasta and cook until it is just under al dente, 1 minute less than package directions. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, prepare the zucchini or other squash: Season chunks with salt and pepper. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the squash in one layer (you may need to do this in two batches) and cook undisturbed until it begins to turn golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove from the pan and set aside. Taste and season again, if necessary.
- Step 3
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan. Add the garlic and red-pepper flakes and cook until the garlic becomes translucent, about 30 seconds. Add the squash back to the pan along with the lemon juice and half the lemon zest. Toss to combine.
- Step 4
Add the pasta to the skillet, and toss to combine. Add ½ cup of the pasta water and the grated cheese, and toss until the cheese emulsifies and is silky. If needed, add an additional ¼ cup pasta water or more to loosen. Add the fresh herbs and toss again. Top with additional herbs and the remaining lemon zest. Serve in bowls, and pass grated cheese at the table. Season with flaky salt, if desired.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Many cooking info sources are recommending cooking pasta in less water. (Serious Eats) This results in starchier pasta water. For me, this has helped in emulsifying better and easier. Hope this helps.
Followed the recipe exactly. It’s a light, delicious summer dish. Next time I’d add more garlic.
Easy and delicious. I added a little more garlic, shredded chicken breast (my husband likes protein w/ his pasta ;-), and halved kalamata olives. Made for a perfect summer dinner and lunch the following day.
Followed the recipe exactly and it was rich and flavorful. I added pine nuts for crunch and “meat.”
Thanks for the notes! Added blistered cherry tomatoes, toasted pine nuts and twice the lemon juice and zest. Used basil and mint from the garden. Delicious!
Thank you for the kalamata olive addition idea.... cooked the recipe as is and added the olives....Mmmmmm! Only needed the half a cup of pasta water Seriously a new go to recipe for me.
I cooked this exactly as directed and it was delicious and easy! For herbs I used basil and a touch of mint (which I've never mixed in a recipe) and garnished with parsley. Very Very yummy! Next time I'll try more garlic.
Very good recipe but I could not taste the lemon - will add more next time. I added chicken that I first browned then took it off the pan and cooked the veggies in the delicious chicken juice. A good dinner!
Question: do you mean 1/2 INCH thick pieces for squash??
I just made this today. I included some baby portobellos which I sautéed with butter and garlic and integrated to the recipe later, I used two lemons instead of one to intensify the flavor and 4 garlic cloves instead of 2 which was great, I had some leftover leaks in the fridge so I used those as well and used basil, tarragon, and flat leaf parsley. The flavor was very intense and wonderful, very aromatic dish. Paired it with some garlic bread. simple and very delicious, this one is a keeper.
Used basil and flat parsley as the herbs. Followed the recipe but didn’t cook the squash in two batches, just one pan, added everything in. Absolutely delicious.
Why? I cook for others and this looks to be fairly straight forward so curious. How would you change it? Hope you answer
after cutting the squash in 1/2 lengthwise, cut across in 1/2 thick slices( will be 1/2 moon/crescent shaped)
Eh. Nothing special.
Delicious, needs a bit more lemon and would be nice with cherry tomatoes and pine nuts
Cooked as written using zuch from the garden with an addition of some chopped arugula. It was very satisfying and the zucchini cooked down to a creamy consistency enhancing the lemony cheesy sauce with some locally made Campanella. An easy weekday recipe.
Excellent use of the tsunami of zucchini from our garden. Added capers to the garlic and hot pepper and used basil, parsley, mint and dill for the herbs. A really lovely summer dinner.
Followed advice to max garlic and lemon. Added small onion. Not very saucy but lemon is nice
Don’t take the zucchini out of the pan. After cooking the zucchini, just push it to the side of the pan, and add garlic and red pepper. When the garlic is translucent, stir all the vegetables together, and then add the pasta back to the pan. Stir in the pasta. Much easier!
We truly enjoyed this recipe - it is a ‘re-do” - will make a great leftover! We added pancetta initially - used the fat from the pancetta to cook the zucchini; added the pancetta later. We also used fresh Basil as our herb - great flavors with the lemon zest and lemon juice. Enjoy!
This is so tasty! I doubled the garlic and added spinach, mushrooms and blistered heirloom tomatoes!
Agree on adding more lemon!
Next time, use more lemon, lemon, zest, and garlic and starchier water. All also, consider, adding mushrooms, feta cheese, pinenuts. You might also add Kalamata olives to the side for people to add to their own bowls.
Simple and easy, like someone else i lowered the amount of noodles and kept the sauce the same. Loads of lemon and garlic = delish. Salt to taste. Tastes like summer.
Used 8 oz of chick pea/lentil pasta and about 1 1/4lb garden zuke and yellow squash. Could do even more squash next time. Added 3 T evoo to salted and peppered zukes, then added to very hot dry big cast iron skillet. Perfect!
Made with sausage and mushrooms for the whole family, everyone loved it
Pleasantly surprised at how this turned out. Added, mixed olives, capers, and some stewed red tomatoes. Very tasty and will be making again.
Diced & caramelized an onion before the squash and added yellow squashes — excellent summer pasta, sweet from the squash and onion & a little spice from the red pepper.
went to the grocery store and could not find ANY zucchini, must be too early in season! however, this recipe worked great with asparagus :)
Super delish. Needs more lemon.
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