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This lemon zucchini pasta is creamy (with none cream!), shiny, and filled with lemony, garlicky, jammy zucchini goodness. Just some pantry staples and dinner is sorted!
Bounce to: ℹ️ Overview | 🛒 Components | 📷 How To Make | 📹 Watch The Video | 👩🍳 Recipe Ideas | 🥗 Serving Solutions | 📝 Full Recipe Card | 🍽 Extra
Okay, right here’s the take care of this lemon zucchini pasta: it’s the sort of humble, five-ingredient magic that tastes such as you ordered it at a small trattoria tucked right into a cobbled avenue someplace in southern Italy.
Impressed by the long-lasting Spaghetti alla Nerano (yep, the one Stanley Tucci raves about), this model has a bit twist — lemon zest, lemon juice and garlic for that additional zing and brightness.
The zucchini will get cooked till caramelized and tender sufficient to soften right into a silky sauce with Parmesan and pasta water. It’s gentle however creamy, lemony, garlicky and barely candy from the zucchini, and actually…it shouldn’t style this good given how easy it’s.
Plus, it’s straightforward to make vegan, and it’s a scrumptious method to make use of up these two zucchinis which have been sitting within the fridge for ahem method too lengthy. I usually mak thise after I really feel like a lazy lady meal for one however my household enjoys it too.
👩🍳 Searching for extra zucchini recipes? Try my zucchini crust pizza (with chorizo and eggs), my tremendous straightforward garlicky zucchini noodles, party-perfect Parmesan-crusted zucchini bites or my veggie-loaded high-protein zucchini slice. For extra, try my roundup of the perfect summer season squash and zucchini recipes.
What You’ll Want
Here’s what you’ll want for this lemon zucchini pasta recipe. Discover the total measurements within the recipe card under.
For the zucchini sauce:
- Zucchini – the star! candy, tender, melts into sauce.
- Garlic – as a result of every thing is best with garlic in my world).
- Olive oil – go for good-quality, provides richness, and is definitely the bottom for the sauce, so taste issues.
- Lemon zest + juice – provides brightness, tang, and cuts the richness.
- Salt + pepper – seasoning, don’t skip.
For the pasta and end:
- Spaghetti or fettuccine – something lengthy and slurpy if excellent right here.
- Pasta water – for creamy emulsifying magic.
- Parmesan or Pecorino – for umami creamy contact; you could possibly use dietary yeast for a vegan spin.
- Contemporary basil & chilli flakes – elective however so good for ending.
- Swaps/Add-ons: You should use any pasta form, add chickpeas, tuna, or grilled hen to bulk it up, or go dairy-free with dietary yeast. Additionally fab with a aspect salad or roasted veggies.
How To Make Lemon Zucchini Pasta
Discover the total recipe directions and dietary data under. Listed here are some helpful step-by-step photographs for lemon zucchini pasta.
- Cook dinner your pasta in salty water till al dente. Don’t neglect to avoid wasting a cup of pasta water (liquid gold relating to making sauce!)
- Begin browning your zucchini in olive oil over excessive warmth — don’t be shy, we would like golden bits – however then deliver the warmth right down to medium-ish.
- Add garlic, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Cowl and let it get jammy and tender for about 5-7 minutes.
- Add lemon juice. Stir all of it up and modify how lemony you need on the finish.
- Toss within the pasta, Parmesan, and pasta water. Combine till creamy and shiny. Style and season additional, or add extra lemon juice.
- Serve with basil, chilli flakes, and additional Parm. Possibly a cheeky drizzle of olive oil, too.
Watch The Video
Recipe Ideas
- Don’t stir the zucchini an excessive amount of whereas browning—it wants a few minutes to caramelize and brown.
- Sure, you want a little bit of olive oil to make the sauce. Conventional recipes name for much more, however I discover about 3 tablespoons is a minimal. If making a bigger batch, enhance the oil quantity too, not simply zucchini.
- Make it vegan through the use of dietary yeast or a vegan Parm.
- Need it richer? Add a pat of butter with the Parmesan.
- Leftover zucchini sauce is superb on toast with a fried egg. Simply saying.
- Storage suggestions: Retailer leftovers in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days. Reheat gently with a splash of water. Not best for freezing, because the zucchini sauce modifications texture.
- Make-ahead suggestions: You may caramelize the zucchini sauce forward of time and retailer it within the fridge for two–3 days. When able to eat, simply reheat it and toss with cooked pasta and cheese.
Serving Solutions
This pasta is a meal by itself, however in case you’re feeling additional, serve it with a contemporary cucumber tomato feta salad, garlicky sautéed greens comparable to my garlic lemon asparagus, or grilled hen tenders. Garlic bread is ace, too!
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This lemon zucchini pasta is creamy (with none cream!), shiny, and filled with lemony, garlicky, jammy zucchini goodness. Just some pantry staples and dinner is sorted! Discover step-by-step photographs and extra recipe suggestions above.
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Cook dinner spaghetti in a big pot of well-salted water till al dente. Earlier than draining, reserve about ½ cup of pasta water.
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Whereas pasta is cooking, warmth 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a big sauté pan over excessive warmth. Add diced zucchini and let it prepare dinner for 1 minute with out stirring to begin browning.
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Add one other tablespoon of olive oil and prepare dinner for two extra minutes, stirring to brown extra sides.
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Scale back warmth to medium. Add garlic, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Stir to mix, then cowl with a lid and let it prepare dinner for about 7 minutes, stirring a few times, till zucchini is tender and caramelized.
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Add 1.5–2 tablespoons lemon juice, stir, then add within the cooked spaghetti, Parmesan, and ⅓ cup pasta water. Toss properly till creamy and saucy.
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Serve with basil, a sprinkle of chilli flakes, and extra cheese. Possibly a drizzle of excellent olive oil too.
- Is that this like spaghetti alla Nerano? Spaghetti all Nerano is a basic Italian dish made with fried zucchini and pasta, made well-known by Stanley Tucci’s present Looking for Italy. Tremendous easy, tremendous scrumptious. Mince makes use of garlic and lemon, which aren’t conventional and rather less oil.
- Can I exploit different pasta shapes? Completely. Lengthy pasta like linguine or fettuccine works superbly, however brief pasta like rigatoni is simply tremendous too.
- Can I make this vegan? Sure! Swap out the Parmesan for dietary yeast, vegan Parm, or a dairy-free cheese.
- Do I’ve to caramelize the zucchini? Sure. That’s the place the magic occurs. It brings out the pure sweetness and offers the sauce its texture.
- Is that this freezer-friendly? Not likely. The zucchini sauce can get watery and lose its silky texture after thawing.
- Don’t stir the zucchini an excessive amount of whereas browning—it wants a few minutes to caramelize and brown.
- Sure, you want a little bit of olive oil to make the sauce. Conventional recipes name for much more, however I discover about 3 tablespoons is a minimal. If making a bigger batch, enhance the oil quantity too, not simply zucchini.
- If the zucchini isn’t candy or flavorful, a pinch of sugar helps coax out extra taste.
- Need it richer? Add a pat of butter with the Parmesan.
- Leftover zucchini sauce is superb on toast with a fried egg. Simply saying.
- Storage suggestions: Retailer leftovers in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days. Reheat gently with a splash of water. Not best for freezing, because the zucchini sauce modifications texture.
- Make-ahead suggestions: You may caramelize the zucchini sauce forward of time and retailer it within the fridge for two–3 days. When able to eat, simply reheat it and toss with cooked pasta and cheese.
Energy: 456kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 16g | Fats: 16g | Saturated Fats: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 2g | Monounsaturated Fats: 9g | Ldl cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 820mg | Potassium: 652mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 450IU | Vitamin C: 34mg | Calcium: 159mg | Iron: 2mg