Pasta Pomodoro with Zucchini

I wasn't joking when I said we're all up in the zucchini lately.

THAT is what happens when you fall behind on picking zucchini. One day that thing was two inches long and way too small to be useful. The next day it was big enough for Alexis to declare it her "new baby." She carried it around for an hour before giving it a nice home on our front porch with our pumpkins.

(Simmer down. We only have pumpkins on our porch because we grew them in our garden and they were done with the growing thing. I don't have anywhere else to keep them until October, OK?)

That particular zucchini is useless when it comes to cooking because big zucchini have too many seeds and are super hard to cut. I'm super lazy, so no thank you! I'll just grow more! But, I still have a whole bunch, so I'm continuing with my ZUCCHINI ALL OF THE THINGS plans. The most recent adventure involved taking an old recipe and adding zucchini to the mix.

It worked out perfectly. Better than perfectly, even. I might just always add zucchini when I make Pasta Pomodoro.

Pasta Pomodoro with Zucchini

(serves 4)

1 box (1 pound) angel hair spaghetti, cooked according to box directions
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small zucchini, diced
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried basil (2 tablespoons chopped if using fresh)
2 cans diced tomatoes (8-10 Roma tomatoes if using fresh) (fresh is totally worth the effort)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup white wine
Crushed red pepper flakes
Black pepper
Parmesan cheese

1. Cook the angel hair according to the directions on the box.

2. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onions, zucchini, and garlic. Sauté until the zucchini soften.

3. Add the basil, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and white wine. Simmer over medium heat until you're happy with the tomatoes. I like them a little soft, so I let them go for about 10 minutes.

4. Add as much or as little crushed red pepper flakes and black pepper as you like.

5. Drain the cooked angel hair and throw it in the skillet with the sauce. Stir things up.

6. Serve with parmesan cheese on top, unless you're fixing a plate for my kid. In that case, skip the cheese (but only after you once again question how it's possible that she doesn't like cheese).