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Welcome toJesse Fixes Dinner, a new series in which food editor Jesse Szewczyk shares his best tricks for effortless weeknight cooking.
As summer lingers into September, the last thing you want to do is sweat over a stove of煨面酱. Sure, the patiently teased-out flavors of leisurely long-cooking Sunday sauces provide comfort like no other, but sometimes you just want a hearty pasta dish without steam filling up your kitchen for hours. That’s where this no-cook zucchini sauce saves the day. This pasta dinner achieves rich creamy and garlicky flavors—and uses up a farmers market tote full of zucchini—without having to apply any actual heat to the zucchini.
The genius of the recipe—the first in my new column,Jesse Fixes Dinner, all comes down to the zucchini preparation: First, you’ll cut yellow or green summer squash (or a combination of the two) into thin half-moons. Toss them with a generous amount of salt (one tablespoon, to be exact) and let them hang out in a colander for about 30 minutes. The salt will draw out the zucchini’s excess moisture that would otherwise make the pasta sauce watery while also softening their crunch; this technique mimics the texture of cooking without ever having to apply heat to them. (And for anyone worried about the amount of salt, don’t fret: Most of the salt will wash away with the water that’s drained off of them.)
Once the zucchini is done draining, toss it with olive oil, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon juice and zest, pepper, and basil. This creates the foundation of the no-cook sauce and further softens the zucchini, lending each bite a savory-spicy kick. The olive oil infuses with flavor, coaxing out the notes of the raw garlic and red pepper flakes to create a concentrated sauce prime for tossing with pasta. Let the zucchini marinate in this mixture for about 15 minutes (give or take), which is just enough time to cook some pasta. I like to use a short tubular pasta here like cameroni orcalamarataso the half-moons of zucchini wrap around the tubes and get trapped in their centers, but any short pasta shape will work; just make sure to reserve some pasta cooking water before you drain it.
As soon as your pasta is done cooking, drain it and place it back in the still-hot pot. This is where the second step of the no-cook pasta sauce magic happens: While the pasta is still steaming hot, immediately add cream cheese and butter and stir until completely melted. This will coat the pasta in a creamy blanket of sauce that mimics the texture of a hearty Alfredo. Add the marinated zucchini, some grated Parmesan, and stir until emulsified. If the sauce is too thick you can add a splash of pasta water to thin it out. The resulting pasta is garlicky, slightly spicy, lemony, with slices of tender zucchini strewn throughout, striking the perfect balance between being cheesy and creamy while also tasting fresh. For an added pop of flavor and freshness, serve the pasta with big, bountiful fresh basil leaves and an additional grating of fresh Parmesan.
While the pasta is splendid served as is as a light end-of-summer dinner, feel free to bulk it up withgrilled chicken, raw kernels of summer corn, or grilled sausage. The pasta provides a bright and riffable base for adding just about anything to. So the next time you’re craving a hearty pasta but can’t bear the thought of heating up your house, give your AC a break and turn to this no-cook pasta sauce to save the day.
