This is more like a process than an exact recipe.  We have been lovingly tending our garden this Summer and we’re starting to get amazing results.  We harvested our first zucchini and a few tomatoes, along with many delicious herbs.  So I decided to make this pasta for dinner tonight.  It turned out delicious and very flavorful, but not heavy on your tummy like some of the heavier marinara type of sauces.  These are the ingredients I used, but you can switch it up depending on what you have around.

Ingredients:

• Pasta (I used Penne but bowties, oricchete or rotini will do)
• 1 large zucchini diced
• 1 bell pepper diced
• Corn (about one ear’s worth cut off) but you can use a bit of frozen sweet corn
• 2 medium tomatoes or about 4 small romas, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
• Fresh herbs, chopped (I had basil, oregano and thyme, but you can use parsley or whatever you have, I put in lots)
• A good squirt of olive oil
• 2 tbsp of butter
• White wine and reserved pasta water (about 1/2 cup of each as necessary)
• Grated lemon peel
• Parmesan Cheese
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Process:

Cook the pasta in a big pot.  While it’s cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet and cook the onion and garlic until very fragrant.  Add the rest of the veggies and saute for a little while until they start getting soft (but not too much),  add the butter, half of the Parmesan cheese grated, grated lemon peel, herbs and wine. Bring to a boil.  The pasta should be ready by now, drain (but reserve like one cup of the water) and put in the pan with the sauce.  Add a bit of the reserved pasta water.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with extra Parmesan shavings on top and a cold glass of white wine.