Summer veggies like squash, cherry tomatoes and eggplant mix together with marinara and pesto sauce to quickly come together in this pasta dish. This pasta dish is perfect for a quick weeknight meal.

It’s also the perfect meal for the summertime, because you don’t have to stand over a hot stove for very long. And, it utilizes seasonal vegetables like eggplant and squash so it will taste best made during that time of year.

Pairing fresh vegetables with pre-made sauce is a great way to bring a lot of flavor in a short time. It’s always a good idea to stock your pantry with some good quality jarred tomato sauce or to keep some home-made sauce in the freezer. That way you can use it as a short cut to get your dinner on the table in no time!

The last tip to getting this meal together quickly is to utilize some jarred or home-made pesto sauce. Pesto packs a punch of flavor with even just a small amount. Just a few quick steps and you can have this deliciously fresh tasting pasta on the table for dinner!

Quick Summer Veggie Pasta

Summer veggies like squash and cherry tomatoes combine with flavorful pesto for a quick and easy yet super tasty meal

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  

• 2 cups squash or zucchini peeled and chopped
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced in half
• 1 medium eggplant peeled and chopped
• 1 tbsp avocado oil
• 1 lb penne pasta
• 2 cups marinara sauce (jarred or homemade)
• 4 tbsp pesto
• 4 tbsp grated pecorino romano
• 4 tbsp chopped fresh basil

Instructions

 

• Boil pasta in salted water 2 minutes less than the directions on the box say
• Before draining the pasta, reserve ½ cup of the cooking water and set aside
• In a large skillet, heat up avocado oil to medium-high heat
• Add the squash/zucchini and eggplant to the pan and leave to brown for 2-3 minutes on one side
• Once the veggies have browned on one side, flip over and allow to brown on the other side for another 2-3 minutes
• Add the cherry tomatoes to the pan along with salt and pepper and mix everything together
• Add marinara sauce to the pan along with the pasta cooking water and let liquid come to a boil
• Lower the heat to medium-low and add the pasta and the pesto sauce to the pan
• Stir to combine everything together and let cook for 2 more minutes until the pasta is tender
• Taste before serving and add more salt and pepper if needed
• Serve up with 1 tbsp each of grated pecorino romano and a fresh basil per bowl

Notes

Make this a low-carb dish using an alternative pasta like lentil or chickpea! 

Keyword easy, eggplant, pesto, quick, squash, tomatoes, zucchini