Gemelli with Summer Squash and Herby Breadcrumbs

I'm not sure I should review this, since I made so many changes based on what I had (didn't) on hand. Mainly, I didn't have gemelli pasta, or much parsley, as the bunnies ate it, didn't have ricotta salata. I subbed orechiete pasta, added a chopped tomato, added a bit of basil instead of parsley, and gorgonzola cheese at the end. It was really good! The bread crumbs were excellent, and the grated summer squash stretched the pasta component. Oh yes, I also added sautéed shrimp for extra protein, but I don't think that really mattered as to the recipe. It was not a hot dish, which was fine in August. In the winter, might want to put it in the oven with the bread crumbs and cheese on top to finish it.

• cdburbank3648

• Western Mass

• 8/20/2020

I needed a new way to use up summer squash from my garden, so I thought I'd try this recipe for grated squash, cheese and breadcrumbs over pasta. The overall dish was utterly delicious, but I did change it up. I had lots of zucchini, and I love the flavor of all summer squashes, so I used 3 fat zucchinis instead of the 2 the recipe calls for. It was a lot of zucchini, and just right for my taste. However... zucchini has LOTS of water, which is especially apparent when it's grated. So I put the shredded zucchini in a tea towel and squeezed out as much water as possible. While the pasta was cooking, I sautéed a diced onion (the recipe didn't call for it, but I love onion with cheese and pasta), and when it was soft I added the zucchini and some halved cherry tomatoes to the pan, not so much to cook them, but just to heat them up so they wouldn't bring down the temperature of the dish. I seasoned the vegetables with plenty of salt and pepper, then tossed the cooked pasta (saving some pasta water) right into the warm pan. I added nowhere near a cup of (highly salty) pasta water to loosen it up, more like 1/4 or 1/3 of a cup, but you do need some. Then, instead of ricotta salata, which I'm not a fan of, I used a couple of logs of soft goat cheese with herbs and garlic and tossed that in as well. The breadcrumbs are a real treat, so I made extra (I'm guessing almost twice what the recipe called for), and sautéed them with 6 large cloves of garlic in both butter and olive oil. I didn't cook any of the herbs, instead just adding a big heap of chopped parsley and lemon thyme (delicious aroma) to the breadcrumb-garlic bowl, along with plenty of sea salt. Ok, so I did change the recipe a little, but I love the whole grated summer squash in pasta idea, and I know I'll be making this dish over and over again. Future staple, for sure.

• dartgirl

• San Francisco, CA

• 8/19/2016

I was very disappointed in this. The delicate flavor of the summer squash was totally overwhelmed. This was due in part to grating it rather than slicing. I'm oF Italian heritage and think I will just go back to simple family recipes. What my Mom and aunts threw together in a half-hour to 45 minutes was much more flavorful than all this slicing and dicing with multiple steps.

• nonni1

• Haverford, PA

• 8/7/2016

Very good but needs extra seasoning.

• Anonymous

• Montreal, Qc

• 6/11/2016