Zucchini, peppers and tomatoes are in abundance now and I used this summer vegetable medley recently in a new pasta recipe.
How not to hit on tasty goodness with that trio? And I combined the vegetables with an herb trio: fresh basil, parsley and marjoram.
Garlic had to be there too…logicamente. And the addition of our olives (seasoned by Pino) and capers from Sicily enhanced this summertime sauce.
Pino approved this invenzione culinaria. Care to try it yourself?Here’s how:
Pasta Estiva (Summertime Pasta)
2 bell peppers
zucchini (2 small or half of a large one)
garlic, 2 or 3 cloves diced
olives, a handful
capers (and I use those under salt after a rinse) – about 1 T or so
tomatoes (very ripe ones), 3- 4 (or 8-10 ripe Roma tomatoes)
Extra virgin olive oil, q.b. (“quanto basta” or “as much as you need”)
salt, q.b.
basil, parsley, majoram (you decide how much!)
pasta, penne or rigatoni (1 lb for every 5 persons)
grated Parmesan, q. b.
optional: hot chili pepper
Cut zucchini into small pieces, an inch or two long. I used large zucchini so I eliminated the pulpy center – our chickens would feast on that – and cut the zucchini into strips:
Peppers, too, should be cut into small pieces. And as the farm women taught me years ago, nothing should be wasted: the top is cut off first and all of it is used except the stem area:
Cut the peppers into strips and then halve the pieces:
Dice garlic and sauté lightly until just golden in olive oil:
Add peppers and simmer gently a few minutes:
Add zucchini and continue simmering while you dice the ripe tomatoes:
Slide diced tomatoes into the vegetable mixture and raise heat a bit so that water of the tomatoes evaporates during cooking:
Add olives and capers and then parsley, basil, marjoram (and no need to chop herbs as easy to eliminate when sauce ready):
Add a chili pepper if you wish. Simmer sauce about another 15 minutes or so on low heat (while you cook the pasta in salted boiling water):
When you drain the pasta, save a bit of the cooking water (“brodo della pasta”) to add to pasta sauce if needed to make it “creamier.”
Do so with this sauce, too, as I did. Serve. Add Parmesan, if desired.
Buon appetito!
Pino prefers this pasta without Parmesan
Click here for a favorite summertime tomato sauce recipe
Click here for another summertime recipe with zucchini
Brilliant simple recipe!!
Yum yum yum yum!
Come soon and we can make it together, Nance!