I must confess, pasta is my favorite meal. I posted last week a one pot pasta recipe that I adapted from Martha Stewart. This past week my boyfriend created a new pasta dish for us to try. He developed a summer vegetable and goat cheese pasta based on a cover of Real Simple he saw, that I had lying around the apartment.
During the summer I always try to get my fill of summer vegetables while they are at their prime. He used zucchini (my favorite), green beans and then added some frozen peas and corn that we had hanging around the freezer.
He dressed the spaghetti in a light white wine goat cheese sauce, and finished it off with a sprinkling of crumbled goat cheese. The goat cheese is light and tangy, which is refreshing in the summer heat.
If you so desire, you could always add some protein to the dish in the form of chicken, shrimp or whatever you prefer. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we did. I hope we get to make it again soon before the summer is over.
Summer Vegetable and Goat Cheese Pasta
Ingredients:
- 1 box thin spaghetti
- 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 lb green beans, cut in half
- 2 small zucchini or summer squash, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 3/4 cup of white wine
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 cup frozen corn
- 2 tbsps heavy cream
- 2 oz goat cheese, plus more for garnish
- 1/4 cup reserve pasta water
- Lemon juice
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
Directions:
- Cook the pasta until al dente, reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water for later. Drain pasta and place cooked back into the pasta pot to hold for later.
- In a saute pan on high heat put 2 tbsps EVOO, add the green beans and zucchini and saute for about 1 minute. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, not brown, about 1 minute.
- Take the pan off the heat. Add the white wine. Return to the heat. Stir vegetables scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula or spoon. Add the frozen peas and corn. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add heavy cream and goat cheese. Stir until the goat cheese melts. Reduce the liquid until large bubble form.
- Add the reserved pasta water, stir. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.
- Add the sauce and vegetables to the pasta in the pasta pot. Combine. Serve, garnish with crumbled goat cheese and/or grated Parmesan cheese.