If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that I love a really easy meal every so often. This pasta dish was definitely one of those occasions.

There were only 3 main components to this dish: pasta, zucchini, pesto. Simple recipe is what lead to the straightforward recipe title. Let’s get one thing straight though, there is nothing wrong with making simple meals. When you’re using fresh ingredients, the result is going to be delicious.

The most important part of this dish is the pesto. It is the big flavour booster here. I used my homemade parsley pesto which I like to keep in the freezer so it is always available to use in recipes. You can find that recipe here (I first made it with cauliflower gnocchi), and you can also see the process of making it in my instagram reel or tiktok.

If you didn’t want to make your own pesto, you could always just use a good store-bought one. And like I mentioned, mine was parsley based, but a classic basil pesto would be great too!

Once you have the pesto, this dish comes together very easily. This recipe is also so adjustable to the ingredients you have on hand. You could switch out the zucchini for bell peppers, red onion or mushrooms. As well, you can use just about any pasta, I prefer a shorter pasta here, like macaroni, penne or farfalle.

The last thing I want to mention is that this is a great meatless (and vegan) recipe! If you are trying to cut back on meat/dairy, or just want a nice change from your regular meals, give this pasta a try!

Ingredients:

• 375g short pasta
• Starchy pasta water (reserved before draining pasta)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large zucchini, in half moons
• 1/2 cup pesto

Directions:

1. Bring large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Before draining pasta, scoop out some of the pasta water (~1/2 cup) and set aside.
2. While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet over medium. Once hot, add zucchini and sauté for 5 minutes until softened and beginning to brown. Add pesto and stir around.
3. Add cooked pasta to the pan, combing until everything is coated in pesto. You can add a few splashes (couple tablespoons) of reserved starchy water to thin out the pesto.
4. Enjoy hot! Serves 3-4 as a main dish.