An Easy Summer Pasta

A few years ago, I was using a magazine subscription as a weekly meal planner. It was a great help to my busy schedule. It didn’t tell me how to cook, which I didn’t need, but WHAT to cook, which was exactly what I needed. 

This is my version of a recipe that I came across while using the resource. WOW. My family loved it and it has become a staple in my summer cooking regime.

 

Summer Squash Pasta

Summer Squash Pasta

 

 

Recipe: Summer Squash Pasta

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. of penne pasta 
  • 1 lb. of summer squash, grated 
  • 2 tbsp. of butter 
  • 1 tbsp. of olive oil 
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced 
  • 1 tsp. of Italian Flavour 
  • Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Instructions

  1. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. 
  2. Salt the water heavily and add the penne, cooking as directed on the package. 
  3. While the pasta is cooking, heat the butter and oil over medium high heat in a large skillet and add the grated squash, cooking for 3 minutes. 
  4. Add the garlic and continue cooking for about a minute. 
  5. Season with Italian Flavour and stir. 
  6. While the squash mixture simmers, add 1 cup of the pasta cooking water. Cook the sauce further until it reduces slightly. 
  7. Once the penne is cooked, drain well and toss with the sauce. 
  8. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and serve.

Microformatting by hRecipe.

The best thing about this recipe is that it is ready to serve in the time it takes to cook the pasta. What could be better when it’s hot and you don’t want to spend your time in a hot kitchen?

There are a few things to keep in mind for success: make sure you season the pasta water. This is such an overlooked element in cooking pasta. It is important to understand that when pasta is made, it’s with so few ingredients and none of them seasoning. An Italian would say to cook the pasta in water that is as ‘salty as the sea’. They’re right! That’s the secret. Pasta that has been cooked in salty water has a beautiful flavour and can stand on it’s own with a simple sauce. If you neglect to salt the water, the pasta will be flavourless.  (On the salt note, do not use any other salt but sea salt that is not iodized. Sea Salt, in its natural state, is more like a mineral for your body to absorb and utilize than and additive. It is also saltier to the palette which means you can use less!)

Another thing to keep in mind when cooking pasta is to follow the manufacturers instructions on the package for cooking times. It seems so simple and yet many people choose all other manner of methods to check the doneness of their pasta. . .throwing up on a wall is one of my fav.’s. This is not necessary. If the box says 9-11 minutes, as soon as you add the pasta to the boiling water, set the timer for that amount of time and when the timer goes, drain the pasta. Done, simple. Generally the cooking directions on the package are for ‘al dente’ doneness which means ‘to the tooth’ in Italian. This is the perfect way to prepare pasta. As a side note, it is also the healthiest way to consume pasta because the more you cook the pasta, the softer it gets, the higher the glycemic index. Is that funny? It is actually better tasting and healthier to eat pasta when it is very slightly undercooked.

Now, I love the yellow squash for this recipe but you can switch it out with zucchini, no problem. I’ve even been known to do that when my zucchini plants are at their maximum yield. But the true secret to the sauce is grating the squash. When you grate it, the pieces of squash are so small that they cook quickly and begin to break down the fibers of the vegetable. This results in an almost creamy, velvet texture that coats the pasta and creates a sauce. If you made this same recipe and diced the squash instead, it wouldn’t create a sauce at all.  

Enjoy this simple dinner!

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