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Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Summertime Pasta

Kristina's Favorites hosts Midweek Morsels.  And since I actually cooked something this week, tonight in fact, I thought I'd join in the Midweek Morsels fun.

I got the original recipe for this dish from Pioneer Woman.   If you are a foodie and haven't stumbled across her site yet, let me encourage you to do so. The recipes are awesome and her photography is unbelievable.   I suspect you''ve been there, though.  Her comment numbers are astronomical - i mean several hundred to a couple of thousand when she hosts a giveaway.  I've spent hours reading her blog.  And gathered several yummy recipes, too.

Pioneer Woman named her version Farfalle with Zucchini but I changed the name because I thought the farfelle (bowties) was too substantial (heavy) for this dish.  I made it the first time just like she said, but tonight I substitued angel hair for the farfalle and we liked it much better.

There are not specific amounts for this dish since a regular-sized zucchini means different things to different people.  In my neck of the woods, people let them grow way too big.  I like young, small zucchinis and since most plants produce a thousand, why not pick them smaller than larger?  The size you buy in the store are probably regular-sized. 

Summertime Pasta
1 med onion, diced
4-5 regular sized zucchini, crookneck or other summer squash
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
3 cloves garlic, minced or diced
olive oil
10-oz angel hair pasta
2/3 C chicken broth (or white wine)
1 Tbsp Arrowroot (for thickening)
1/2 - 3/4 C cream
fresh herbs - basil, lemon thyme, chives (whatever you've got)
Parmesan cheese

Set a pan of water to boil for the pasta.  Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables.  I had a banana pepper from the garden so I diced that up, too.  It's very mild and tastes just like a yellow sweet pepper.  I quarter-cut yellow crookneck for the sauce and, using a mandolin slicer, I thinly sliced zucchini to cook with the pasta.

When the water boils cook pasta and zucchinni for 4-5 minues.

Heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil over med high heat.  Saute the onions and garlic, until onions are
translucent; add squash (and diced pepper).  When the squash is almost cooked but still has a slight crunch, turn the heat to medium and toss in the tomatoes.  Cook for a minute or two.  Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Stir in the Arrowroot, immediately the sauce will start to thicken.    Remove from heat and pour in the cream.  Stir gently.

To serve, pour the drained pasta into a serving bowl.  Add lots of fresh herbs - I forgot the herbs tonight and that makes me sad because they add so much yumminess to the dish.  I have oregano, basil and rosemary growing in the garden, too.  Pour the sauce over the top.  Add parmesan cheese and gently stir.

I served this with corn-on-the-cob for a very satisfying dinner with all the yummy goodness of summer flavors.

***Sidenote:  My daughter thought that little red serano pepper would look pretty on the plate for the picture, and it did, but unless you want some hotness I wouldn't suggest adding it to the recipe. 

10 comments:

Bybee said...

The recipe looks wonderful; I like your adjustment. I'll have to go check out Pioneer Woman.

Lenore Appelhans said...

I have never heard of arrowroot before. Wonder if I can get it in Germany?

Eva said...

Since I'm a vegetarian who eats vegan two meals a day, I can't cook a lot of what Pioneer Woman discusses, but I still love her blog! :) I don't subscribe, but definitley pop in from time to time. This one would be pretty easy to make veggie, and we have lots of zucchini right now. Thanks for posting it! :D

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you joined us =) I love the Pioneer Woman and follow her recipes like crazy! I think this looks really good =) I'm going to make it soon, I still have so much zucchini! Thank you!

Myke Weber said...

Maybe I should call you my little red Serrano pepper.

It was a delicious meal and I ate so much I got pasta shock! I would include this as a summertime regular.

Thanks for a great dinner, your Hotness.

Aarti said...

I think Pioneer Woman's blog is great! I also love the combination of pasta with zucchini and tomatoes. Well, pasta with anything, really.

Eva, for a site with great vegetarian recipes, you might check out 101cookbooks.com.

Booklogged said...

Bybee, you're going to love Pioneer Woman.

Lenore, I found Arrowroot in with the spices but I wonder if you couldn't us cornstarch instead.

Eva, it would be very easy to make it vegan. And it's delicious.

Kristina, it was fun. This dish really tastes better than it looks.

Candleman, your such a goof! Glad you liked it because I'll be making it again and again.

Aarti, it was a delicious combination.

Cami Checketts said...

Thank you for the wonderful recipe. I am dying for new ideas to use my garden produce. I feel such guilt when it goes rotten!

Dawn @ sheIsTooFondOfBooks said...

Oh, that looks good! Both the raw ingredients and the finished product are tempting. I don't have a mandolin slicer, but I bet I could (carefully) slice the zucchini thin enough with a knife.

Thanks for sharing this recipe.

Bookfool said...

I love Pioneer Woman's blog, but it's waaaay too easy to spend hours reading it. Yep. Thanks for sharing the recipe!! It looks so good!