“How To Use Up Extra Zucchini” Pasta Dinner | The Recipe ReDux

This summer pasta dish is a delicious, nutritious and easy way to use up your extra zucchini.

Can you feel it? Zucchini love is in the air.

Hopefully, you are still loving it – the season started fairly early here in Philly – I got my first influx of summer squash a good month ago in my CSA share.

But if you are a bit overwhelmed by all the zukes or can’t make another loaf of zucchini bread, I got a great family dinner recipe for you today.

And just in time for this month’s Recipe ReDux theme:

Fresh from the Garden: The season of bountiful produce has arrived. Whether your produce comes from the farmers’ market, a CSA share, or a plot of dirt out back, show how you are using fresh July fruits or veggies. And if you have gardening successes – or failures – please share! (<—we’ll get to that at the end of the post.)

I just got back from several days at the beach sharing a house with my parents and sister’s family where we all take turns cooking. Like my mom, my sister is a fantastic cook and I always get a new trick or recipe idea when spending time together.

My sister has made a version of this zucchini pasta for several beach vacations now and I love it because:

1) It’s easy to make
2) It uses up a lot of zucchini
3) It gives you a hefty dose of veggies at dinner (zucchini is a good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, potassium and fiber — for just 33 calories per medium zuke.)
4) It heats up well as leftovers.

This is typical Italian cooking – simple, in season ingredients that turn into super delicious meals. The zucchini here cooks down a lot so it has a very mild flavor – yet another bonus for kids – or adults – who may not be on the squash band wagon.

Recipe note: You can also swap in summer squash if you have that on hand.
(If you STILL have zucchini after this recipe, check our Zucchini Recipe Roundup or more recent recipes we’ve posted like Tomato Zucchini Eggplant Gratin and Sweet Zucchini Jam. And checkout Cooking Light’s Six Great Recipes For Zucchini – zucchini chips, anyone?)

As for those gardening successes or failures, this Dirty Harry line, which my husband often quotes, sums it up for me when it comes to growing anything:

I have killed mint. Yes, mint, to which anyone who has any type of green thumb says it grows like a weed.

Not on my watch.

I’ve even killed grass. (There’s a long story behind that one but yes, I killed off a patch of my housemate’s yard at one time, too.)

This is why I stick to the farmers’ markets and CSA shares for my summer fruit and vegetable supply – happily paying those who know what they are doing in gardens and fields way more than me.

Any good zucchini recipes/cooking tips to share? Any good gardening stories? I’d love to hear! Feel free to share this with any zucchini lovers you know (or any other black thumbs that can relate….)