Name: Summer Pasta for Supper
Yield: 4

This straightforward Summer Pasta is light and fresh with veggies, creamy sauce, spaghetti, and Italian sausage for a restaurant-quality meal at home!

author’s note

Taking Garden To Table Seriously!

I had a bunch of zucchini from my parents’ garden and was really craving pasta, so I set out to make the reliable dish. After some testing, I came up with a recipe that’s now a forever favorite at my house.

This pasta is full of flavor and loaded with fresh summer veggies like crisp corn, roasted red peppers, shredded zucchini, baby spinach, and sweet cherry tomatoes. It all comes together with a light cream sauce that gets extra saucy from the zucchini and tomato juices, so you barely need any cream or butter.

Quick Tip

Check out some other favorite summer pasta recipes like Broccoli Pasta, Corn and Sausage Pasta, or Zucchini Pasta Sauce.

Sausage being cooked in a skillet then removed to a paper towel lined bowl to drain off the extra oil.

Ingredients

Some of the ingredients in this Summer Pasta are worth diving deeper into:

Mild sausage: Choose mild or spicy sausage, both are great. Remove the casings before cooking.
Corn: Fresh or frozen sweet corn both work well.
Cherry tomatoes: Cherry tomatoes are a must for their sweetness and juiciness.
Roasted red pepper strips: Use ready-to-use, chopped strips from near the canned pasta sauces or artichoke hearts to save time.
Parmesan cheese: Grate a block of Parm using the small holes of a grater for the right amount and the best melt.
Heavy cream: Don’t swap out the heavy cream; it adds a rich, thick texture.
Basil: skippable, but it adds fresh flavor at the end.

All the veggies go into the pan and get sautéed, then the cream and cheese are stirred in to finish this summer pasta recipe.

How To Make Summer Pasta With Zucchini

Here are my top tips for this Summer Pasta recipe:

Salt the pasta water: This is your only chance to season the spaghetti.
Use 8 oz pasta: 16 oz is too much for the amount of sauce.
Add more sauce if needed: If it seems dry, add a splash of reserved pasta water.

Quick Tip

Do you struggle to remember to pull out pasta water before draining the pasta? I know I do! Here’s a trick: Place the colander in the sink with a mug or heat-safe measuring cup in the center. When you go to drain the pasta, you’ll be reminded to pull out some water first!

Spinach, sausage, and pasta being added to the pan and it all being mixed together.

Storage

Summer Pasta Storage

This recipe is best right after the sauce is mixed in.

You can store leftovers, but you may need to add more cream when reheating. The pasta will be softer but still flavorful. It’s not ideal for freezing due to the pasta and dairy.