Stuffed Pasta with Patty Pan Squash and Zucchini

Zucchini is everywhere, and we all want fresh recipes so that we can enjoy this lovely veg to the full before the season is over.

Yes, we all love a good zucchini bread, even better when it is surrounded by chocolate! It’s wonderful how zucchini and summer squash can go from savoury to sweet so easily.  Kind of like carrots, pumpkin and parsnips.

Today I’m sharing a savoury dish.  How to take stuffed pasta from heavier, more comforting meals to a fresh summery way is really not that hard.  We don’t often think of ravioli without the tomato sauce, but this fresh ‘sauce’ of sautéed zucchini, pattypan squash, garlic and lemon really makes for a delightful but not heavy meal.

The Joy of Summer Squash

We love our squash, all year round.  Comforting in the winter, but quite refreshing in the summer.  The difference?  Here’s what The Kitchn has to say in a comprehensive article on Summer Squash:

Unlike their winter counterparts, these varieties of summer squash have soft, thin skin that is perfectly edible, with varying degrees of light to dense flesh. They can all be eaten raw or cooked, and have a mild flavor that can range from sweet to nutty, and though the difference in flavor between varieties is subtle, it’s distinct. These are the varieties of summer squash you’re most likely to cross paths with over the next few months.

We can add it sliced or chopped raw into salads.  We can shred it with the skin on into cake batter.  We can spiralize it and make low carb noodles.  We can stuff and bake it, see my take on Lebanese Kousa for a great stuffed zucchini recipe.  Using a veggie peeler makes great zucchini ribbons to be added on top of salads, pastas, casseroles or this great Zucchini Feta and Mint Tart. And we can make this fabulous pasta!  For the recipe today, I combined the more common zucchini with patty pan squash.  These little bright yellow squash look like squat little toys, but are as tender and tasty as the green zucchini we usually find.  Don’t worry if you can’t find it, any yellow or green zucchini will work just fine.

What Kind of Pasta Will Work?

The reason I like a stuffed pasta, is that it will either contain meat of some sort, or at least some great cheese, so it contains protein, which will make it more of a complete meal. I’m showing it today with a spinach and ricotta ravioli (a great gluten free option from Whole Foods) but of course, you can use tortellini, even perogies! And if you don’t want to use a stuffed pasta, feel free to use penne, rigatoni, even farfalle or fusilli.   And yes, if you wanted to use spaghetti or linguini, go for it!

The Rest of the Ingredients

This is such a simple dish to prepare, even in the heat of summer.  In the time it takes for the pasta to cook, you can have the rest of the dish ready in a large skillet.  You’ll start by sautéing some garlic in olive oil. Then add the sliced zucchini.  If using patty pan squash or eight-ball zucchini, you can slice them cross-wise and then in half.  Slice up the sections into 1/4 inch pieces, like the rest of the zucchini.  They will all end up cooking in the same amount of time.  Slowly let them soften, and get browned, and then you’ll add the cooked and drained pasta right in with the veggies. Some parmesan cheese and chilli flakes combine with some of the reserved pasta water to bring it all together.  Finish with some torn basil, lemon juice and zest, and dinner is done!!  That easy!  If you don’t have basil, fresh thyme or mint will also work.  

And then you’ll just have to make a zucchini loaf for dessert.  I have yet to share the version I make, I should do so soon!

Happy summering,

Love Jen