Farfalle and Zucchini with Tomatoes, Basil, and Pine Nuts #recipe from Molly MacRae

 

Fresh from the garden, the farmers market, or the grocery store – zucchini, tomatoes, and basil shout SUMMER! Serve this for supper with grated cheese and a slice of crusty bread or toast. If there are leftovers, it makes a lovely cold pasta salad.

Farfalle and Zucchini with Tomatoes, Basil, and Pine Nuts

(adapted from The Complete Plant-Based Cookbook)

 

Ingredients

2 pounds zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/2 inch thick

Kosher salt for salting zucchini and cooking pasta

5 tablespoons olive oil, divided

3 garlic cloves, minced (I used 4 large ones)

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 pound farfalle (we often use only 12 ounces when a pound is called for)

12 ounces small tomatoes, halved or quartered

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped (might have used more, our basil plant was huge)

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

 

Directions

Toss zucchini with 1 tablespoon Kosher salt in colander and let drain for 30 minutes. Line a baking sheet with paper towels and lay zucchini slices on it to dry a bit. Use another paper towel to carefully wipe away residual salt.

Meanwhile, toast pine nuts in a dry 12-inch skillet (which you’ll use for the zucchini after the pine nuts are toasted). Stir occasionally, watching to see the pine nuts don’t burn. Remove to a small bowl.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch skillet over high heat until it begins to smoke. Add half the zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and slightly charred, 5 to 7 minutes (reduce heat if skillet begins to scorch). Transfer zucchini to large plate. Repeat with another tablespoon of oil and remaining zucchini.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic and pepper flakes and cook about 30 seconds until fragrant. Stir in zucchini and cook until warmed through, about 30 seconds.

Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts of water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 2 tablespoons kosher salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain pasta and return to pot. Add zucchini mixture, tomatoes, basil, pine nuts, balsamic vinegar, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Toss to combine and serve.

 

Look for Molly’s new series—the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries!

Book 1: Come Shell or High Water out now!

 

When widowed folklorist Maureen Nash visits a legendary North Carolina barrier island shell shop, she discovers its resident ghost pirate and the mystery of a local’s untimely death . . .

If you'd rather visit Scotland, try my Highland Bookshop Mysteries. 

In the mood for yarn and cool, green mountains of Tennessee? Try my Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries.

There are short stories and stand-alone mysteries, too.

And super-gentle cozy mysteries written under my pen name, Margaret Welch.

 

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction and Guideposts. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction.

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