I have voiced my dislike towards zucchini in the past.
Having that said, I have been having good runs of making zucchini more likeable and welcoming to my repertoire. I supposed I have found a way to make peace with zucchini – by grating it or by dicing as small as possible. I still think zucchini is not an ideal vegetable for a stir fry dish. I prefer my stir fry vegetables to be crunchy which I think it’s quite difficult for zucchini to be. Maybe I can undercook the zucchini a little so it will stay crunchy.
Hmm, a half cooked zucchini? I think it may be too much for a reformed zucchini hater to bear.
I was gifted an unusually round and large zucchini by a friend who has a vegetable garden which I wish to raid one day (maybe in spring time). Haha, just kidding! {In case he is reading this}. My cheeky intention aside, I love home grown vegetables and I think they make an ideal gift for people enjoy cooking, don’t you agree? (If you are reading this, thanks for your generousity! :D)
I was pretty happy with my last zucchini recipe and considering the good amount of hits I got for this post, I realise there are many zucchini lovers in the blogsphere. So I hope you enjoy this one too!
Baked Pasta with Zucchini and Basil Pesto
Serves 3 to 4 people
Ingredients:-
- 2 small or 1 large zuchini
- 3 to 4 tbsps pre-made basil pesto
- 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese
- 500g / 17 oz Penne or your choice of small pasta
- Salt (to add in boiling water to cook the pasta)
- A kettle of hot water to cook the pasta
Methods:
- Dice or grate the zucchini.
- In a large pan (or my favourite Baccarat 28cm stir fry pan) with some olive oil, saute the zucchini until translucent and slightly charred. This is done over medium heat.
- Turn off the flame and add basil pesto. Mix until everthing is well mixed and set aside.
- Cook the pasta according to packet instructions. Drain and mix with the zucchini-basil-pesto mixture.
- If you like a layer of grilled cheese over the pasta, transfer the pasta onto a baking dish, sprinkle grated cheese and let it blister under a griller. Serve immediately with some fresh basil if you wish. 🙂
This can be eaten hot, cold or at room temperature. This would make a convenient packed lunch. Enjoy!
For this recipe, I have used up about half of the gigantic zucchini. For the remaining of the zucchini…
I diced and put it in zip lock bags in the portion that I think I need for a dish and freeze it. Alternatively, you can grate and store it in the freezer. I used them in pasta sauce mostly.
This looks amazing! What a yummy, fresh springtime dinner. Can’t wait to go find some basil and zucchini at the farmers market to make this.
I can imagine it would be even better with homemade basil pesto 😀