If it’s August, it means a wealth of tomatoes, corn, and zucchini. It’s hard to go wrong when you start with peak produce. This dish originated as a side dish for leftover chicken cutlets, but it’s good enough to stand alone.

Funny thing about spiralized zucchini. Someone commented the other day that her husband would never agree to eat zucchini ribbons mixed with his pasta. She might be surprised. Around here, the Big Guy almost prefers the added crunch that the zucchini provides.

Ingredients:( for 2 )

1/4 pound pasta (angel hair, linguini fini, or thin spaghetti)
1 medium zucchini, spiralized with the spaghetti blade
kernels stripped from 2 ears of fresh corn (leftover cooked just fine.)
1 small to medium onion, diced
1 to 2 TBS butter (or mix of butter and olive oil)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lemon, zest and juice
Kosher salt, red pepper flakes
basil pesto, optional
Parmesan cheese, grated
fresh basil leaves

Method:

1. Boil pasta in generously salted water. Reserve a cup of the water.
2. Put spiralized zucchini in a colander in the sink. After reserving a cup of the salted water, pour the cooked pasta and the rest of the water over the zucchini. Return the pasta and zucchini strands to the pot. Toss to combine. The hot pasta will slightly cook the zucchini while retaining a nice crunch.
3. Melt the butter in a saute pan. Cook the onion over medium heat until softened. Add the garlic. Cook until fragrant. Add the corn. Season with Kosher salt, and a shake of red pepper flakes.
4. Add the pasta, zucchini mixture to the pan. Add about half of the reserved pasta water. Stir to combine. Add the zest of a lemon and the juice. Use your judgement on this. If your lemon is small, use the whole thing. If you have a large lemon, half should be enough. Add more of the water if the mixture is too dry. Heat through. Check for seasoning. You might want to add some pesto, and more salt.
5. Sprinkle with fresh basil leaves and serve with lots of grated Parmesan.

Note: You can buy spiralized zucchini in the produce section of most grocery stores, but make sure that it’s fresh. The best part of the summer season is our ability to get fresh, local produce.