This week is such a blessing – cool evenings that make for perfect sleeping weather and perfectly sunny and warm daytime temperatures that make being at work soooo incredibly difficult. Us Midwesterners…we appreciate the little things, let me tell you.
I was heading home from a late meeting at the hospital and texted the nanny asking if she could give the girls a bath while I made dinner. Mark had a work dinner tonight and tomorrow’s picture day at school. She said they were just leaving the beach playground and would be home soon. Two very enjoyable minutes later, I got so jealous of the people eating out on a restaurant patio with lake views that I called Jess and asked if we could detour for dinner and so we pressed pause on baths to have dinner.
Us girls had a perfect late summer meal out on the patio – wine and all! It was perfection. I didn’t have to be inside making dinner and without dishes, there was plenty of time for me to do bath time…and a bit of a movie with snuggles in mom and dad’s bed before bed. 🙂
Sometimes, you just must take advantage of summer and all of its gifts…like the basil I used for this recipe.
Our garden has been MASS producing basil which only makes me sad because I’ll be paying big bucks for the fresh stuff in a few months, but for now…JACKPOT. Between picked fruit that we’ve frozen for the winter months and pesto, my freezers (all 3 of them!) are FULL.
I had to make something with basil and even better that it used up a ton of the zucchinis and yellow squashes my CSA has been delivering. The recipe looked fantastic, sounded super easy, and resulted in a meal loved by all. My girls nearly inhaled every last bite on their plates and I was texting my pasta, basil, cheese, and lemon-loving bestie the recipe before we’d even finished up!
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2½ lbs zucchini and yellow squash (about 5 medium), quartered lengthwise, sliced
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp Ancho chili powder
- 1 lb large tube pasta
- 4 oz Parmesan, grated (about 1 cup)
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup torn basil leaves, divided
- Heat oil in a large, deep skillet over medium. Once hot, add garlic, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned around the edges, about 4 minutes. Add zucchini and squash; increase heat to medium-high; season with the salt. Cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the squash is jammy and soft. Sprinkle with chili powder and mix.
- Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water, stirring occasionally, until very al dente.
- Transfer pasta to skillet with squash using a slotted spoon and add ½ cup pasta cooking liquid. Cook pasta, add Parmesan and more pasta cooking liquid as needed, until sauce coats pasta and pasta is al dente. Toss in lemon juice and most of the basil.
- Serve hot and topped with remaining basil.
Excellent