Zucchini Tomato Kale Pasta

This zucchini tomato kale pasta packs all the flavors of summer into one pasta dish. Simple to throw together and ready in under 30 minutes!

Believe it or not I don’t make a lot of pasta. I mean I love pasta (who doesn’t?) but it’s weirdly not something I think of when I’m thinking of last minute dinner ideas. In fact if I’m being completely honest we don’t even keep pasta in our pantry. I feel like admitting this means I should move out of New York. I’m pretty sure most New Yorkers live off pasta and make it AT LEAST once a week.

I remember when I first moved to NY my nanny family were total pasta lovers. They would get home from work and my male boss would fire up the stove and make pasta every single night. He made the most awesome red sauce and would either cover his pasta in sauce or cover it in this delicious chicken soup like concoction. The funny thing is that even though I had fed the kids dinner they woudl still sit in the kitchen and enjoy a bowl of pasta with their parents. At first I was worried they would think I was starving their kids since they ate second dinner every night but soon I realize it was tradition.

It’s cool. Even I started popping into the kitchen for a small bowl of late night pasta. Who doesn’t want to go to bed with a belly full of farfalle?

However, when I moved out of their house I left the late night pasta eating tradition with their family. My sauce never tasted the same (seriously this sauce is soooooooo freaking good!) and I still had the bad midwest habit of overcooking my pasta so I just gave up.

Then I realized I was acting crazy because pasta is the best quick weeknight meal ever. So I started making it more often (by more often I mean maybe once a month) but still only picking up pasta as needed. That’s sorta where this pasta was born. I had a bowl full of fresh produce and a box full of spaghetti that I found in my pantry. I was actually pretty shocked when I stumbled upon it because as I stated earlier, pasta is usually not in my pantry. Plus it was lunch time and I was starving!

So I threw a bunch of veggies in a pan, tossed it with the fresh made pasta and boom – lunch. Not to sound all cheesy but it’s totally summertime on a plate. Or in a bowl. Really it’s summertime in whatever vessel you use to serve your pasta.

Plus it’s a really good way to use up summer zucchini because I know that stuff is just about exploding out of everyones gardens.

 

Looking for more delicious pasta dishes? Try my 20 minute kalamata olive, tomato and caper pasta, Italian sausage and kale pasta or my spring vegetable pappardelle.