Summer Pasta With Zucchini, Ricotta and Basil Recipe (2024)

This is a very versatile dish, that can be adapted to a number of variations. I'd suggest cooking the garlic with the onions (it won't burn, you're sweating everything) and to halve and core the zucchini before slicing - makes them less watery in the finished dish. I'd also brown the zucchini to give the dish more crunch. If you don't have or like ricotta, use good farmer cheese or even a soft goat brie or feta and Romano. Any way you make it following the basic instructions will be delicious!

I gave this five stars; my husband, who is a tough grader, gives it only four. No matter, it is delicious, and very filling. We deliberately let some of the onions and zucchini get very brown to add depth. Sauteed a handful of halved cherry tomatoes for brightness. A deluge prevented me from going outside to harvest basil, but a cube of frozen pesto (from last summer) was a fine substitute.

I've made this twice. What I've found is that combining the ricotta, red pepper flakes and zest separately in a large bowl along with just enough pasta water produces a nice smooth sauce. Next, the basil paste can be added and then the drained pasta. Stir to coat the pasta with the sauce. Finally, add this mixture to the zucchini/onion pan and stir to combine and add the grated cheese last. This produces a more consistent dish with all the pasta well coated with the sauce.

Don't stint on the red pepper flakes; this dish needs the spice. Double the lemon zest to highlight the zucchini.

Finally made this and it is, indeed, delicious! If you have a Whole Foods near you, pick up Natural by Nature ricotta (in the dairy section, not with the specialty cheeses) and save yourself the trouble of making it from scratch - I guarantee you won't be able to stop eating it out of the container and it might as well be homemade, it's that good. I halved the recipe and there's a lot left over, but it just means getting to enjoy it more than once.

We enjoyed this very much. Somehow it was more complicated than I think it should have been. I felt I had to keep re-checking the recipe for all the minute steps. I think you could sauté some onions and zucchini, add to some good pesto and toss with pasta, ricotta, lemon and parmesan and you'd be done!

Use good quality parmeasan. Halve the pasta and make it veggies with pasta. Don't leave out zest or peppers. Awesome dish

Had my eye on this for a while and finally made it tonight. My mom can't have too much sodium, so I squeezed the lemon I used for the zest into the water before boiling the pasta to give it a little zing. We all felt the garlic was a little harsh. Next time I plan on sautéing the garlic with the onions. But will definitely be making it again.

I've made it at least four times since the recipe came out, and use whatever fresh veggies I happen to have on hand. Tonight it was zucchini, eggplant, and kale, once I added fresh corn. I also split the recipe for gluten free pasta (me) and regular for my husband. And I adjust the amount of pasta so that it is more veggies than pasta. OnceI couldn't find decent basil, so I made a parsley pesto. I think that the lemon zest and red pepper flakes really make the tastes pop. DELICIOUS!

Great recipe. I added chopped portobello mushrooms which really added to the flavor.

Wonderful! I'm trying to cook a lot of zucchini as we close out the summer. I used one big zucchini and one bright yellow squash for contrast and purchased some nice ricotta. I made the garlic and basil in a mini food processor/ it was like a lighter pesto. The cooking water is key and the lemon is a nice touch. I thought it was delicious and it took me about 25 min to make. sort of luxurious with the ricotta despite being easy. Thanks David Tanis!

I agree with many folks to either reduce the amount of pasta or increase the zucchini. I used a combo of green & yellow zucchini for some color contrast. The raw garlic can be a tad strong, so next time may try tossing it in for a moment at the end with the zucchini as it finishes. This is a wonderful, very simple recipe, perfect for summer!

Excellent. The lemon zest makes it. I follow Mark Bittman's general advice and use less pasta per amount of filling.

Love this and loved it as leftovers. For first leftover serving, I added diced apple and diced walnuts. For the third day, I added crumbled crisp bacon and more zucchini (no apple or walnuts). Each was delicious.

I've used feta cheese in place of ricotta for a Greek version.

This was great and checked a lot of boxes for me – easy to make, adaptable, great taste, and lots of leftovers. You can also really hide a lot of vegetables here. On the suggestion of another reader, I added a pint of burst cherry tomatoes which was a great addition. Asparagus tips would likely taste great as well. if you are in a pinch for time, store-bought pesto would be a fine substitute for the basil mix. Don’t skimp on the grated cheese or the lemon zest. Will definitely make again.

Really good! I added a little fennel I had in the fridge. Next time would cook zucchini less in first step. But very tasty and creamy!

We grow an awful lot of basil and squash (zucchini and summer squash) in the summer time and are always looking for ways to use the harvest. This is a great one, easy, fresh and tasty. I will say it's on the bland side if you make as the recipe is written. So feel free to up the amount of garlic, basil and red pepper. This is one of those recipes where quantities are all to taste.

excellent. Mostly made as written, but w/ finely chopped rosemary and garlic instead of pesto since it's midwinter now, and at the end added finely chopped fresh green garlic greens, scallions, and parsely.

Toasted fine bread crumbs with olive oil and garlic to sprinkle on top - yum!

This dish is very flavorful and really good! And simple to make. I used some basil pesto I had made this summer and frozen which already had lots of garlic, basil, olive oil. I thawed it and mixed it in the ricotta cheese with the lemon zest and Parmesan cheese. Also added the pasta water and the cooked zucchini and onions. Mixed it all up with cooked penne pasta. Perfect!

Overall a good dish- subbed in arugula and used dried basil instead but could’ve added some more lemon to accentuate that flavor

Sub the zucchini with spinach when it’s not in season - awesome!

Add garlic to zucchini instead of to the pesto to,lessen the bite.Finely chopped basil worked fine - didn’t need to make a paste.

This dish is tasty but needs a little more salt, I might add some mozzarella or feta crumbles next time. Also make sure you have enough space to brown the zucchini... you could almost make them in the oven first.

Substituting buratta for ricotta works well.

This was good. No two ways about it. It took some time as all that zucchini, and in my case, summer squash, to fry up in batches. As one cook stated, combine with ‘Pasta with corn, zucchini and tomatoes “ on this site elsewhere. I sautéed zucchini/squash in batches, then the corn and onion. Combined the basil mixture with the ricotta. Mixed it all up with 1/2 pound of pasta, tossed, added Parmesan and topped with some sliced cherry tomatoes. Fabulous use of summer veggies. Will make yearly.

Combine this recipe with Mark Bittmans Pasta with Corn Zucchini and Tomatoes

I made home made Ricotta and used it in this recipe. The ricotta was amazing, and I strongly encourage you to make your own at home. However, I found this recipe bland and uninteresting. I think the killer for me was the recommendation for drowning it in Parmesan. I didn't do this because I wanted the other flavors to stand out, but they didn't do much for this dish either. Will not make again.

Made mostly as directed except halved the recipe. Absolutely delicious. I browned the onions and garlic just a bit. The lemon zest is subtle but has a delicious fragrance which is so nice when eating this dish.