The Underrated Italian Pasta Sauce that You Need to (and Can Easily) Make

It wasn’t until I was living in quarantine in Florence, Italy, that I tried a pasta sauce made with any other fruit or vegetable besides tomato, the first one being zucchini.

While my roommates and I were stuck in quarantine, the school dropped off meals for us. Most of these went into the freezer, and were messily labeled with sharpie, in Italian may I add (which I couldn’t read in the first place).

We figured out that what we were eating – a savory-sweet “green sauce” – was actually zucchini. And it was our favorite.

Fast forward about 2 years, and I finally recreated as close to the recipe as I could get. In my version, I topped it with a ball of fresh burrata cheese and an extra drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

The flavors resemble a fresh pesto, but it’s creamier. I never would’ve guessed that it was zucchini, and this quickly became a household favorite.

The Recipe

Tuscan herb flavors in a light, cheesy sauce

1. Dice up 3 medium zucchinis, while the oven preheats to 400 degrees.
2. Drizzle the zucchinis with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper before putting them in the oven to cook for ~20-30 mins or until golden brown.
3. Boil salted water and cook a box of pasta of your choice.
4. In an immersion blender, add 2 cloves of garlic, half a cup of parmesan cheese, ~2 tablespoons of olive oil, ~8 basil leaves, fresh or dried oregano, salt and pepper.
5. Once the zucchini is cooked, add it to the blender to combine all ingredients. Blend until smooth or the desired consistency.
6. Add the zucchini blend to the cooked pasta. Top with 1/4 a ball of fresh burrata or mozzarella cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper.

Enjoy!

I’ve come a long way with my cooking since I first tried out this recipe back in June of 2021.

That go-around was more of a pesto, because I didn’t roast the zucchini before blending with the herbs, oil and parmesan. It made for a heartier, less creamy sauce, and honestly just tasted like regular pesto with an earthy taste. The sauce was still great, just not exactly what I was looking to recreate.

This roasted zucchini pasta sauce makes for a great summer dinner, especially now that we have welcomed in the month of August (and it is no longer too hot outside to heat the oven!).

Cheers!