Summer Vegetable Spaghetti with Pesto Cream Sauce

One of the things I love the most about blogging is finding other bloggers who share my food philosophy. They are my “food twins,” if you will, and one of them is Sarah from A Taste of Home Cooking. She and I are definitely on the same page when it comes to food, and I find myself bookmarking nearly every recipe she posts. When she posted this recipe, I knew I’d be trying it for sure. The summer’s almost over and I’ve only cooked with zucchini a handful of times. There’s just no excuse for that! I had to remedy the situation right away.

I had a happy accident while making this recipe. I don’t keep white wine on hand, usually, so when it’s called for in a recipe I replace it with chicken broth. But unbeknownst to me, I didn’t have any. What I did have, however, was some heavy cream. So I just used that instead, and it turned the sauce into this incredibly creamy, slightly sweet, wonderfully indulgent thing.

This is my favorite kind of food: simple, fresh, and delicious. We all loved it.

Summer Vegetable Spaghetti with Pesto Cream Sauce
slightly adapted from A Taste of Home Cooking

1 pound spaghetti
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, diced
1 small summer squash, halved lengthwise and sliced thin
1 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced thin
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 tablespoons basil pesto
12 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
Grated parmesan cheese

1. Bring water and some salt to in a boil in a large pot. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and return to the pot.

2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in squash and zucchini, season with salt and pepper to taste, and stir until softened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add cream and cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in pesto.

3. Toss vegetable sauce and tomatoes with pasta. Serve with grated cheese.

One year ago: Spicy turkey, corn and zucchini skillet