Quick & Easy Summer pasta with zucchini, fresh tomatoes and olives.

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Light and tasty. Zucchini and fresh tomato olive pasta. An easy family recipe for weeknights ready in 30 min total from when you open the fridge to when you serve it to the table. A great way to offer zucchini to your little ones.

Red onions will offer a sweet background flavor and keep together the sauce, the zucchini will give texture and the fresh tomatoes will give a little touch of acidity that will balance the sweetness of the other two ingredients.

PROCEDURE:

Bring to boil a large pot full of water and add the pasta when the water is boiling. Add also 1 tbsp of sea salt. Reserve 1 cup of starchy boiling water to thin the sauce if needed.
In a skillet, heat the olive oil for 1 min at medium. Add the red onion and cook for 3/4 minutes up until nicely golden. Stir every minute. Add the zucchini, adjust with salt and keep cooking for another 5 minutes until the zucchini are nice and tender. Then add the tomato pulp and the olives, stir and turn the heat off. You do not want the tomato to cook. Drain the pasta and combine with the sauce. Add some of the starchy water from the pasta to thin the sauce if needed. Add the Parmesan cheese, fresh basil, mix and serve!

WHAT KIND OF OLIVE CAN I USE?

I’m obsessed with Taggiasca olives, they are considered the queens of Italian olives. They have a rich and not sour flavor with low acidity. I can add them to any savory dish I prepare 🙂

I buy them from an Italian importer on Amazon. Here.

If you cannot find Taggiasca olives, any sweet flavor olive will work. Castelvetrano, Cerignola, Nicoise. Try one before adding to the sauce.

CAN I USE CANNED TOMATOES?

This recipe is based on freshness and I would really recommend to use fresh tomatoes whenever possible. If you don’t have any other solution I would use a tablespoon of tomato paste, but not canned tomatoes.

CAN I ADD MORE VEGETABLES?

I never say no to adding veggies to a recipe 🙂

Sweet peas or asparagus would be a great addition. Eggplants might be a lovely summer addition but little ones might not like the skin, so I would suggest to peel it.