Summer Squash Pasta
Summer Squash Pasta is an easy meal for a weeknight, combining classic summer flavours of zucchini, corn, lemon, and basil into a quick pasta dinner.
This is such a flexible recipe, taking full advantage of summer’s bounty. It’s delicious on its own, or pair with your favourite grilled meat. It is fantastic with a cedar-planked grilled salmon!
Summer squash is not strongly flavoured on its own, but rather it enhances everything you cook with it. In this dish, the delicious sauce has white wine, garlic, shallots, and lemon. Grilled corn kernels and roasted red pepper adds pops of sweetness, and the torn basil leaves bring it all together.
Can I Make Substitutions?
Pasta – For this recipe, I’ve used equal amounts of pasta and squash – 12 oz of each. You can use less pasta if you like. And use whatever pasta shape makes you happy!
Squash – I’ve used a variety of summer squash, so feel free to use whatever you have. This is a great dish to use up zucchini, gifted by your neighbor or co-worker!
Corn – Ideally, kernels sliced from grilled ears of corn are the most ideal. If you don’t have that, you can use thawed corn kernels, toasted in a cast iron skillet. This is what I used in my video below, so you can see that method in action.
Roasted red pepper – This delicious ingredient is easy to find, usually in a jar packed in oil. It adds a pop of sweetness and color. You can substitute sun-dried tomatoes for a delicious change!
Pecorino romano – Grated cheese brings everything together into a saucy dish. I like pecorino for its richness, but you could also use parmesan, asiago, or any other hard cheese.
Basil – Torn basil leaves give such a unique, summer flavor! You can use dried basil if you can’t find fresh leaves.
Lemon – Lemon adds a wonderful bright acidity, that balances out the sweetness of the corn and red pepper, and creaminess of the squash and cheese. Since it’s one of the main flavours of this dish, I would not substitute this ingredient.
White wine – If you don’t want to use wine, you can substitute with ½ cup of the pasta cooking water.
Can you modify the Summer Squash Pasta for any food restrictions?
Yes! You can substitute the pasta for one that meets your nutritional needs, such as gluten-free pasta. To make the dish dairy-free, leave out the grated cheese.
Easy Summer Squash Pasta
Equipment
- Large pot
- Large skillet
- cheese grater
- Zester
Ingredients
- 12 oz short cut pasta
- 12 oz sliced summer squash such as zucchini
- 1 cup corn kernels from grilled corn on the cob, or frozen corn
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 shallot thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- ½ cup white wine optional
- Juice & zest from one lemon
- 2 Tbsp roasted red pepper from a jar, thinly sliced
- ½ cup grated Pecorino romano
- Small handful fresh basil leaves divided
- Salt & pepper
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring 3 quarts of salted water to boil. Once boiling, add pasta and stir.
- While the pasta is cooking, slice the shallot, crush the garlic, slice the squash, zest and juice the lemon, slice the roasted red peppers, grate the pecorino, and measure out the wine. Have all these ready to go.
- If using grilled corn on the cob, slice off the kernels – enough for about 1 cup.
- If using frozen corn, thaw the corn and then toast it in a dry cast iron skillet until golden and set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil. When hot, add shallot and stir until it starts to wilt, about 1 minute.
- Add the garlic cloves and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute, then add red pepper flakes.
- Add the wine – stir and scrape the pan to release any browned bits. When the wine starts to bubble add the lemon juice. Cook for a couple of minutes until reduced.
- Add squash and cook, stirring constantly, until squash becomes tender – about 2-3 minutes. Add salt & pepper.
- Add roasted red pepper, lemon zest, and corn kernels. Stir until combined.
- Add the cooked pasta, grated pecorino, and half of the torn basil leaves. Toss and stir until combined.
- Serve topped with the remaining torn basil leaves and more grated pecorino, if desired.