This is a quick, light, and tasty shredded zucchini and cheese pasta recipe requires few ingredients and is packed with fresh flavor. This simple pasta with zucchini is a recipe everyone will love!
It is raining fresh summertime zucchini right now and this simple recipe is calling your name. I absolutely adore zucchini! Zucchini is a versatile vegetable that I can easily eat daily. More zucchini recipes: Baked Zucchini and Tomatoes Bruschetta, Italian Stuffed Zucchini (vegetarian), Paccheri Pasta Zucchini Tomatoes Crème Fraîche, and Cinnamon Sugar Zucchini Bread.
Ingredients
- Zucchini
- Garlic
- Onion
- Basil
- Mint
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Fusilli pasta
- Parmigiano cheese
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Easy Summer Meal with Zucchini, Cheese and Pasta
The zucchini are the shining star in this recipe, scented only with a few basil leaves, mint, onion, garlic, and quality olive oil. In this way you get a delicate taste of the zucchini that is perfect for dressing short pasta. You will want to use a box grater to shred your zucchini.
Top this dish with loads of parmigiano and you will make this every time you have a few straggler zucchini left in your refrigerator. The best part? It is NO FUSS! That means super easy and pleasing to even the pickiest eaters!
Shredded Zucchini
For this recipe I decided to use shredded zucchini. You don't need any fancy tools- a simple cheese grater will do to achieve the right texture.
The process of shredding the zucchini allows for maximum zucchini flavor in every single bite! I find that shredding the zucchini creates a more tender texture. The peel, that can sometimes remain tough depending on the zucchini variety, almost "disappears" in the shredding process. I hope you love this method of preparation as well!
Pasta
Really, any type of short pasta will do for this zucchini pasta dish. If you don't have any short pasta, make it with spaghetti! I like using fusilli pasta so the bits of shredded zucchini really get inside the groves of pasta and you can get a good pasta/zucchini ratio in every bite! I recommend using a good quality pasta no matter what variety of pasta you choose. Read more about that in this post.
Olive Oil brands I like that you can find at most grocery stores- Colavita, Bertolli, California Olive Ranch, HemisFares , and Spectrum I also like the Organic Extra Virgin Olive oil from Costco for cooking.
Link to buy the giant fusilli (as pictured)
Link to buy regular fusilli pasta
Variations
Add Spice
I love adding a few flakes of red peeper to my plate of fusilli zucchini pasta. I don't add it in the recipe for my children who eat platefuls of this dish in one sitting. If you are fond of a little spice add some red pepper flakes just before serving.
It's the perfect touch of heat without overwhelming your taste buds.
Add Burrata Cheese
If you want to make this dish extra rich add fresh burrata cheese on top of the final dish right before serving. Simply add cut pieces of creamy fresh burrata on the top and make this dish a little EXTRA cheesy.
Since burrata isn't an ingredient you might keep on hand all of the time you can add it on a special occasion when you do. I love the creamy fresh texture and flavor it adds to this dish. You could also use fresh mozzarella cheese.
Italian Zucchini Story
Zucchini reminds my of summers in Italy. I am in Italy as I write this recipe and we went to the fresh vegetable/fruit stand this morning to buy zucchini picked today! We've gone to the same fruit and vegetable stand since before I was born. We love our produce man named, Vincenzo.
He greats us with a smile and starts loading a tray full of the most fresh produce he knows our family loves. Sometimes we spend 10 minutes and sometimes 30 minutes depending on how much there is to catch up on and of course, time for friendly Italian banter. I love going with my Zio Peppo and hearing the two joke and move their hands in the air as the communicate and discuss.
There is something about buying produce in this way that warms my heart. It is a true farm to table experience. No matter what time of year and where I am in the world, somehow zucchini bring me back to Sardegna. The light green and small zucchini that we get from Vincenzo are like candy to me. I dream about them and that little stand all year long. When I can't get my hands on this delectable variety I use what I can find at my local grocery store and create the same delicious dish!
From my Cucina to Your Table. Mangia! Mangia! (Eat!)
Made with Amore, Elena
This recipe pairs well with Stuffed Chicken Thighs (Involtini di Pollo) or Breaded Chicken Breast Pan Fried (Italian).
This quick and easy shredded zucchini and cheese pasta is a recipe everyone will love!
Print
Shredded Zucchini and Cheese Pasta
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
- Category: Savory
- Method: Italian
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
This is a quick and easy zucchini pasta recipe, the kind you make with few ingredients that delivers a fresh and delightful recipe. Even a simple pasta and zucchini can turn into a creamy and tasty recipe that everyone can agree on!
Ingredients
- 4 medium zucchini, shredded
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- ½ of a white or yellow, medium, onion, diced
- 3 tablespoons fresh basil torn by hand
- 1 tablespoon fresh mint, torn by hand
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb (454 grams) fusilli pasta
- ½ cup freshly grated parmigiano cheese
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil on medium high heat. Add onion, garlic, and zucchini. Cook about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until slightly golden brown and soft.
- Meanwhile boil a large pot of water. Add salt to season water and cook pasta until 'al dente' directions. Before straining the pasta reserve ¼ cup pasta water and set aside.
- As soon as the zucchini are done cooking turn off heat, season with salt and pepper, and stir in mint and basil leaves. Add cooked pasta and stir to combine. If needed add a little of the pasta water to make more of a sauce. Top with parmigiano and serve hot! Great as leftovers.
Keywords: zucchini, dinner, side dish, savory, Italian, vegetarian recipe, pasta, easy dinner, easy recipe, Italian recipe
Nicky says
Great way to use all the fresh zucchini from the garden. Such an easy weeknight meal and makes great leftovers.
★★★★
Elena says
I love it for lunch the next day as well!
Elena says
Best Zucchini pasta recipe!
★★★★★