Angel Hair Pasta with Summer Squash and Cherry Tomatoes
Just because nights are getting a little shorter doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy summer’s bounty. Rather than fire up the grill in the dark, whip up a pot of angel hair pasta and top with summer squash, zucchini, herbs, and cherry tomatoes and pair with La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay.
To keep summer around a little longer on your dinner table, when choosing your summer squash and tomatoes, select ingredients with warm hues, yellow, orange, red, and some greens. With each bite, you’ll leave guests with smiles on their faces as they imagine feeling the warmth of the sun on them.
Besides carefully choosing the colors of your ingredients, the keys to preparing this dish are selecting a variety of squash with different textures to give guests some crunch in each bite, not overcooking the squash–squash should be al dente like your pasta–and using cherry tomatoes in place of full-sized tomatoes. (Cherry tomatoes add a sweetness that balances the tarragon and Basil and softens the heat of the chile pepper flakes.)
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Now’s the perfect time of year to enjoy summer squash, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes. Look for cherry tomato varieties such as Lucky Tiger, Blush, Green Tiger, Pink Tiger, Sunrise Bumble Bee, Pink Bumble Bee, and Purple Bumble Bee.
Top angel hair pasta with lightly sautéed summer squash and zucchini for a light lunch entree or first course at dinner.
When scaling up or down the recipe to serve more people, be sure to maintain a ratio of roughly 2 cups topping to 3 cups cooked pasta.
Serve immediately to retain the crunch of the squash, zucchini, and tomatoes. Rather than individually plate present family style for guests to serve themselves.
Be sure to have grated parmesan or pecorino reggiano cheese, chile pepper flakes, and basil at the ready for guests to intensify flavor.
Angel Hair Pasta with Summer Squash, Zucchini, and Cherry Tomatoes
Author: Eden Hensley
Recipe type: Main
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8
Ingredients
- Angel Hair pasta, 16 ounces (approximately 2 1/2 inches diameter of dry pasta)
- 3 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 pounds Yellow summer squash (roughly two to three), sliced in 1/4 inch rounds and halved
- 1 1/2 pounds Patty Pan squash (about two), sliced in 1/4 inch “rounds” and halved
- 1 1/2 pounds Zucchini (roughly two to three), sliced in 1/4 inch rounds and halved
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
- 1 pint, assorted cherry tomatoes, roughly sliced in quarters or halves
- 1 Tablespoon fresh Chives, minced
- 1 Tablespoon fresh Tarragon, minced
- 1 Tablespoon fresh Basil, roughly torn (optional, necessary if serving slaw in sweet peppers)
Instructions
- Prepare Angel Hair pasta according to directions on packaging.
- Heat Extra Virgin Olive Oil in either a large saute pan or work over medium-high heat.
- When the olive oil shimmers, add the onion and garlic.
- When the onion is almost translucent, about three to four minutes, add the zucchini and yellow squash and saute until almost tender, about five to serve minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Stir in cherry tomatoes and cook for an additional two minutes. Just enough time to heat the tomatoes through but not wilt them.
- Toss carefully with chives and tarragon, leaving on the heat no more than half a minute.
- Serve family style, using a slotted spoon to transfer to top of bowl with angel hair pasta. Toss carefully to distribute summer squash, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes. Top with fresh Basil.
To create a dish that reminds guests of warm summer days, aim for just over a third of your topping to be yellow or orange in color.
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