Pasta Primavera with Garden Zucchini and Herbs
I think it’s safe to say that I wouldn’t have survived the week (in terms of meal planning) without my garden. Every meal I made was with ingredients I already had in the house, or was growing in the garden. Coming back from a trip alone is a lot more work than I anticipated. The “re-entry” into reality, as my dad put it, has been nothing short of exhausting. I’ve been playing catch-up during an already busy week (hosting Garden Club and having scheduled 2 appointments across town).
Wednesday I had no clue what to make for dinner. I don’t like not having a plan for meals, even if it’s just a list of a few dishes that I plan to make in the next couple weeks. I hadn’t been to the store (still) and didn’t want to spend the time doing shopping either.
I remembered a friend with a garden mentioning that she had made a delicious pasta primavera using squash from her garden, so I decided that would be our plan since we had an abundance of garden zucchini in the fridge. I also used green onion, parsley, and basil from our garden. I really enjoyed it, but next time I’d prefer the sauce doubled (the sauce is doubled in the recipe below). If you don’t have frozen peas you could use yellow squash instead. For a vegetarian dish, substitute the chicken with additional peas, zucchini, and yellow squash.
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Summer Pasta Primavera
This summer vegetable pasta primavera is a great way to use up languishing squash in your fridge. Any green veggies really make this a pretty dish and if you are vegetarian just omit the chicken and add more veggies!
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 14 ounces Chicken Breast, cut into bite sized pieces (about 3/4-inch chunks)
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
For the Pasta Primavera Sauce
- 4 large cloves Fresh Garlic, Minced
- 1/2 cup Dry White Wine
- 2/3 cup Heavy Cream
- 5 ounces Crème Fraîche
- 1 tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
For the Vegetables and Herbs
- 2 cups Zucchini (sliced in quarters lengthwise, then sliced)
- 1 cup Yellow Summer Squash (sliced in quarters lengthwise, then sliced)
- 1 cup chopped Fresh Baby Spinach
- 1/3 cup chopped Fresh Basil
- 1/4 cup chopped Fresh Parsley
- 1 package sliced Fresh Chives (about 2/3 ounce)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped Fresh Dill
- 10 oz. cooked Fresh Tagliatelle or Linguine
For Serving
- 1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large, deep skillet or cast iron pan (I like my 5 quart Le Creuset Braiser) over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, seasoning with salt and pepper, as desired, and cook until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside on a plate.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low, then add additional oil to the pan, if needed. Add the garlic and saute for 1 - 2 minutes, or until fragrant but not overly browned.
- Add the white wine, scraping to remove an browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Then, stir in the heavy cream, and crème fraîche, whisking until combined.
- Let the mixture come to a gentle boil, stir in the zucchini and squash, return the chicken to the pan and then reduce heat to low and let simmer for 5 - 10 minutes.
- After the sauce has cooked, stir in the baby spinach, basil parsley, chives, and dill. Cook until the spinach and herbs are wilted.
- Stir hot, cooked pasta and the parmesan cheese in to the chicken and vegetable mixture.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper, then serve immediately.
Notes
Substitutions
- Vegetables: use any veggies you like! This recipe is for a summer vegetable pasta primavera, but you can use spring vegetables like asparagus, sugar snap peas, fresh peas, etc. as well.
- Crème Fraîche: if you can't find Crème Fraîche in your grocery store, I recommend substituting low-fat or full-fat plain Greek yogurt. (This was tested with Fage brand Greek yogurt for substitute purposes.)
- Chicken: the chicken adds a lot of flavor by cooking everything in the same pan and scraping up the browned bits from browning the chicken in the first step, however you can definitely make this a meatless meal if you prefer.
- Other Meat Options: shrimp or scallops would also go well in place of the chicken for a seafood pasta primavera version.
- Pasta: I recommend using FRESH pasta if available at your grocery store, but dried works in a pinch. Use whatever pasta shape you prefer. We like this best with tagliatelle or linguini, but also enjoy it with penne.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 624Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 167mgSodium: 371mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 4gSugar: 6gProtein: 48g
GoodLifeEats.com offers recipe nutritional information as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although GoodLifeEats.com makes every effort to provide accurate information, these figures are only estimates.
Kevin says
What a nice looking fresh pasta dish!
Krista.S says
This looks delicious! I've actually been looking for a good recipe to use up some leftover squash and zucchini – and I think I've found it! Thanks for posting! And the picture is beautiful too!
Jennifer says
I love the garden inspired dish! There is nothing more great in the summer than savoring the produce from your own garden!
Ashley says
Yum! I don't know if there is a pasta dish I wouldn't like. I like using whole wheat pasta too.
Katie @ goodLife {eats} says
Pili – I would have preferred using yellow squash for the peas, but I did not plant any. My neighbor grows it, but he wasn't home.
Pili says
Sounds like a wonderful pasta dish! Though I think I'd subsitute the peas for something other, not a big fan of peas!