pasta with zucchini

for me, the best pastas are the simplest ones.. pasta is already so delicious in and of itself! (i <3 carbs...)

here we do a pasta with just zucchini and garlic, salt and pepper.. i know it's not summer squash season, but i found these guys on sale at the grocery store and couldn't resist. (i have to admit, this usually comes out better in the summer :-)

you can use whatever pasta shape you like.. though to be honest, i'm pretty damn picky about pasta shape and texture. i normally like cooking barilla "whole grain" pasta, but i didn't have any and ended up using some gemelli i had bought at manor. (i <3 carbs in the form of gemelli...)

ingredients:

pasta (i used half the bag of gemelli pictured here ==>)

extra virgin olive oil

2 large zucchini, sliced as above (or more!)

1-2 cloves garlic, minced (or more!)

1 onion, chopped (optional)

chili pepper flakes (optional)

salt & pepper

1. prepare the pasta. i always like my pasta super al dente... and salty! (mm.. carbs..)

2. while the pasta is boiling, sautee the onion (if you want to include it) in olive oil. add the garlic and the zucchini slices. sautee on medium heat until the zucchini browns, as pictured below. you can add chili flakes if you like.

3. when the zucchini is sufficiently browned and tender, add the cooked pasta. heat together for a few minutes, seasoning generously with salt and pepper. also, add more olive oil if you like. as you can tell from my photos, i not only like my pasta al dente and salty, i also like it oily... (mm.. olive oil..)