Summer garden pasta
You can prep this summery dish in advance for a quick weeknight meal.
This is my favorite go-to summer recipe for many reasons. It celebrates the best produce of the season in one dish. It can be a great way to use up all those extra zucchinis you don’t know what to do with, and any other home garden bounty). It has a great combination of sweet, crunchy, and savory all in one. It also is very colorful and light, and great way to celebrate summer!
To make this a quick weeknight dinner, I will prep on the weekend or night before by making the “sauce” and chopping the veggies and then refrigerating. Then, all you have to do is cook the veggies and pasta, and toss it all together – easily making dinner in 15 minutes!
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil or avocado oil
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 2 yellow squash, sliced and quartered
- 2 zucchini, sliced and quartered
- 2 cups fresh corn (approximately 3 ears of corn)
- 8 ounces whole grain or bean pasta (fusilli, bow tie, or other)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil
- 1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
Directions
- Add 1 teaspoon of oil to pan. Sauté chopped onion in pan on medium heat until golden brown. Stir occasionally. Add chopped yellow squash and zucchini and cook until it starts to brown. Add corn and cook 1 to 2 more minutes until slightly browned. Set aside.
- Cook pasta according to directions.
- While pasta is cooking, combine basil, ricotta cheese, buttermilk, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper in bowl and stir well. If you have not already, chop the tomatoes and toast the walnuts.
- Toss together cooked vegetable mixture, cheese mixture, fresh tomatoes, cooked pasta, and walnuts.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition information (per serving)
- Calories: 560
- Total fat: 21 g
- Saturated fat: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
- Sodium: 660 mg
- Total carbohydrate: 76 g
- Dietary fiber: 12 g
- Total sugars: 13 g
- Protein: 25 g