Summer Pasta with Broiled Zucchini

Another stretch of hot weather, another pasta  that’s easy to quick to make. The star of this dish is zucchini or green s squash if you prefer. Zucchini is considered a summer squash because it’s harvested young and has a short storage life while winter squashes like butternut can be stored for months.

It’s an interesting and versatile vegetable that has many uses and can be cook in many different ways. Most popular being either sautéing or grilling, with roasting being a far third. The problem with sautéing is that zucchini soaks up oil easily which tends to make it overall mushy and oily. Of course you can always grill the zucchini but that’s not always convenient, and if you live in a apartment nearly impossible. So we’re left with roasting which is fine but takes a long time and simply cooks the zucchini without adding anything to it. But wait there is another option, broiling!

I’ll be honest, like most of you I rarely used a broiler. After all why bother? It’s hard to get precious cooking time for it, almost no recipes call for it, and it’s just one of those thing that’s there.  But I’m ready to admit I was wrong, and say that broiler is one of the most underrated appliances (or part of an appliance) in the kitchen.  If you like broilering recipes get ready because Grand Appetite will features tons of them in the future.
Now let’s go back to the recipe at hand.  All you need for this summer pasta is two average sized green squashes, garlic, half a box of pasta, extra virgin olive oil, parmesan, salt and pepper.

First get started by boiling the water for the pasta and preahting the broiler.  Meanwhile wash the squashes and cut off the tips.  Cut them in half length-wise, and slice into half round between 1/3 to 1/2 of an inch thick. Mince a clove (or two if you prefer) of garlic and mix the zucchini, garlic, and one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil together. Spread the squash on a foiled covered broiling pan, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
The zucchini will take about 10 minutes to brown in a preheated broiler so I usually wait until I start cooking the pasta before putting it into the broiler. Just make sure to check on zucchini often so it doesn’t burn.

Once the pasta and zucchini is done mix everything together and add  more olive oil until pasta is nice and shiny (about 3 tablespoons or more if you like).  Salt and pepper to taste if needed, then sprinkle with parmesan and if you like add some pepper flakes for an extra kick.
Enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 Green squashes (zucchini)
1/2 pound of uncooked pasta (usually it’s half a box)
clove or two of garlic
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (about 4 tablespoons)
Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper

Quick Directions:
1. Boil water for the pasta.
2. Cut the squashes in half lengthwise, and then slice into half rounds.
3.  Mince the garlic.
4.  Mix together squash, garlic and one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.
5.  Spread the squash on a foil covered broiling pan, add salt, pepper, and broil for about 10 minutes.
6.  Mix the squash and pasta together, add the rest of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.