EASY GARDEN VEGETABLE PASTA

Easy Garden Veggie Pasta is a quick & simple meatless dinner made by tossing pasta with summer veggies, garlic, onion and Parmesan cheese!

There are so many fabulous and fresh flavors in this easy-to-make meatless meal! Making this summer pasta is so easy, with minimal ingredients and about 20 minutes of your time, you will have an incredibly tasty dish prepared.

Pasta with Fresh Garden Veggies

My kids are already back in school, but meal-wise, I am still in full on summer mode. I tend to lean towards fresh, fast and light meals this time of year. Particularly if I can incorporate vegetables from my garden! This is one of those non-recipes I tend to make every summer, which means, I measure nothing! It’s just a few shakes of this and a pinch of that, type of thing. You can adjust ingredients and amounts to match your family’s tastes and what you have on hand, but really anything goes!

HOW TO COOK PASTA PERFECTLY EVERY TIME

Pasta is pretty simple to cook, but there are a few little tricks to making sure it turns out perfect every time!

• Make sure you use a large enough pot to boil your noodles in. If it is too small, you may find that your noodles stick together and you may run out of water before the noodles are completely cooked. To cook one pound of pasta, you should be using at least 4-6 quarts of water. Make sure your pot is big enough to hold the water and the pasta and be able to boil without boiling over. Remember, pasta expands as it cooks!
• Add some salt to the water. Adding salt increases the boiling point of the water, meaning that the water will boil faster and also helps the pasta cook a little bit faster too! I usually add about a tablespoon of salt.
• Test the pasta. Even though there are recommended cooking times for each type of pasta, the only fool-proof method I have found to make sure pasta is done perfectly is to taste test it! About a minute before the recommended cooing time, I use a slotted spoon to get a noodle out of the pot. Rinse with cold water to avoid burning your tongue! If it is still a little crunchy, let it boil another minute or two before testing again.
• Drain the pasta well and rinse with cold water immediately. The cold water will prevent the pasta from continuing to cook and will also prevent the noodles from sticking together.

Fresh from the Garden Summer Pasta Ingredients

Pasta: You will need ½ of a box of whole wheat linguine noodles. I like to use whole wheat pasta to make it more filling, because no meat protein is involved.

Zucchini: Adding in 1 medium sized zucchini will give great healthy chunks of flavor (not a gigantic one, save that for this zucchini bread!)

Squash: Use 1 medium sized yellow squash for a more robust pasta dish and lovely color too!

Tomato: For even more amazing taste, use 1 medium to large sized tomato, diced.

Olive Oil: A splash of olive oil in the water, for cooking the pasta, will keep the pasta from sticking while cooking.

Onion Powder: You need a dash of onion powder to give this dish additional flavor. Or you can choose to dice and sauté about ½ cup of red onion with the squash.

Garlic Powder: Adding in 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, or minced garlic, will give a subtle but pungent taste that is so delicious.

Salt and Pepper: By adding in a dash or so of salt and pepper this helps balance all the wonderful flavors in this pasta dish.

Parmesan cheese: A great pasta dish is not complete without being topped with some parmesan cheese! Use ¼ cup in the pasta and if desired, add as much as you’d like to each serving of pasta once it is plated. I love extra cheese on my pasta!

This recipe feeds roughly a family of 4-6, depending on everyone appetites!

How to make Easy Vegetable Garden Pasta

Prep: Begin by boiling the pasta according to package directions, adding in a few shakes of salt and about a tablespoon of olive oil to the water. While the water is heating up, wash and cube the vegetables, keeping the squash and tomato separate.

Drizzle more olive oil into a medium frying pan heating to medium.

Cooking: Cook pasta according to package directions.

When pasta has about 5 minutes, left, add the zucchini and squash to the hot frying pan. Sprinkle the veggies with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. After 5 minutes, add in the tomatoes and cook for 1 minute.

Drain the pasta. Transfer to a serving bowl. Drizzle with additional olive oil.

Add the cooked veggies to the large serving bowl and toss all ingredients together. Then, sprinkle about a ¼ cup of Parmesan on top and continue tossing. If you have a few fresh basil leaves, add those! Dinner is served, enjoy!

HOW CAN I MAKE THIS A MORE ROBUST MEAL? 

While this dish is great on its own, we all know that some people do not consider it a meal unless there is meat involved. Thankfully this dish is very versatile and will pair great with many different meat options. To make this a fuller meal consider adding sausage, shrimp, chicken, or pork. Our family is a big fan of chicken, give this marinated grilled chicken a try. Even consider serving a warm this braided garden herb bread along side it too, that would be a great addition to this meal.

HOW LONG WILL THIS PASTA DISH LAST IN THE FRIDGE?

You can store and enjoy this dish for 2-5 days, if stored in an airtight container, in the refrigerator. To reheat you can put it in the microwave for 45-60 seconds, depending on the serving size. Or you can put it in a pan and reheat it on the stove.

Try more healthy recipes with fresh vegetables here!

• Grilled Lemon Curry Zucchini
• How to Cook Corn on the Cob
• Easy Sweet Potato Recipe
• Summer Veggie Stew
• Easy Stuffed Zucchini
• Easy Garden Veggie Pizza
• Baked Potatoes with Cheese Sauce
• Oven Fried Zucchini
• Ranch Roasted Potatoes
• Pasta with Roasted Vegetables and Sauce
• Easy Zucchini Pasta
• Greek Quinoa Salad

Fresh from the Garden Summer Pasta is as sensational as it sounds! Pasta with vegetables is an incredibly light and tasty dinner that is great for any night of the week!