Summer Squash Pasta with Lemony Garlic Sauce
Servings: 5
Calories: 446kcal
Summer Squash pasta is the perfect healthy pasta dish and is chock-full of goodies like pine nuts, cannellini beans, zucchini, and yellow squash. Seasoned with garlic, lemon, shallots, capers, and red pepper flakes. Toss in some baby arugula for extra crunch and flavor. You've got yourself a summer pasta dish worthy of company.
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Ingredients
- 8 ounces dry pasta see notes
- water for cooking - reserve ½ cup pasta water
- ½ cup pine nuts
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- ¾ cup shallot sliced thinly
- 4-5 cloves garlic minced
- 3 cups summer squash diced, see notes
- 15 ounce cannellini beans
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼-½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ⅔ cup lemon juice
- 3 Tablespoons capers drained
- 1½ cups baby arugula
- optional parmesan cheese see notes
Instructions
- Boil the pasta according to package directions. Before draining, reserve one-half cup of the pasta water in case you need to use it later. Drain the pasta and set it aside if the other ingredients are not ready yet.
- Drain and rinse the can of cannellini beans. Set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, you can toast the pine nuts. This is an optional step but really brings out the flavor. You must attend to the pine nuts while they are toasting or they will burn. If you can't commit to this then skip the toasting! Add the pine nuts to a medium/large skillet. You won't add oil. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook them, stirring constantly until they’re lightly browned - about 3 minutes. As soon as they have turned light golden brown, immediately dump the pine nuts out of the hot skillet to stop the cooking process. Set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, juice the lemon, and chop the summer squash. Slice the shallot, and mince the garlic. If the baby arugula is not prewashed then wash and pat dry.
- Add the oil to a large skillet and heat on medium/high. Once the pan is hot then add the sliced shallots and saute for about 2 minutes. Add the minced garlic and continue to saute for another 2 minutes until the shallots have begun to soften. Add the salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Add the summer squash and cannellini beans and continue to cook until the squash is just tender.
- Add the cooked pasta, capers, lemon juice, and toasted pine nuts. Toss to coat. If the pasta is too dry then add some of the reserved pasta water, one tablespoon at a time. (You may not even need it.)
- Toss in the baby arugula. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
Use any dry pasta of choice. I use Banza Chickpea pasta. My nutritional information will be different than that listed in this recipe which just accounts for regular pasta.
Summer squash is any combination of zucchini, yellow squash, or Mexican gray squash.
We are a vegan family and so use vegan parmesan cheese. Follow Your Heart is the brand we typically use. Or you can make your own parmesan cheese with cashews and seasonings.
You will need 3-4 lemons for 2/3 cup of lemon juice depending on the size of the lemons and the juicing method you use. I use this citrus juicer to get the maximum amount of juice from each lemon.
The suggested amount for red pepper flakes is 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon. Start with the smaller amount and add more to taste.
Nutrition
Serving: 1.5cups | Calories: 446kcal | Carbohydrates: 61g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Sodium: 562mg | Potassium: 557mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 370IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 108mg | Iron: 4mg