Simply Pasta is a monthly recipe column in which Best of Vegan contributor Teri-Ann Carty delves into her 20-year experience in fine dining and shares her best practices and recipes for making amazing pasta. In the new installment of Simply Pasta, she shares a vegan zucchini and parmesan noodle recipe inspired by and sourced directly from her mom’s organic garden in Canada.
Vegan Zucchini and Parmesan Noodles
Inspiration straight from my mom’s organic garden
There are many many things to love about summer but one of the BEST is the abundance of produce overflowing from gardens and markets. I am very fortunate to have access to my mom’s organic garden. She and my step-dad are gardeners and their property, while not big in size, is massive in personality. My mom still lives in my hometown. I grew up in rural Brockville, Ontario, a town approximately 3 1/2 hours east of Toronto. I don’t visit nearly enough, but plan on changing that in the next couple of years (big changes are afoot for us).
My mom’s 2 1/2 acre land is an oasis of strategically planted trees, annuals, perennials, wild flowers and of course a vegetable garden. She plants all the things she loves to eat, which consists of string beans, sugar snaps, carrots, onions, garlic, beets, tomatoes, and zucchini (and so much more, but you get the drift).
An abundance of zucchini
Her zucchini flowers are insanely beautiful (even though she has no idea how to prepare them) and zucchinis PLENTIFUL. I spent a week close-by in August and was able to dance through her garden to pick before driving back to the city.
This pasta is easy and even more so if you have an air fryer. I will say that I was very late to the air fryer game but have been converted especially with the hot summer we have had. Not having to turn on a large appliance has been a godsend. If you don’t own an air fryer or an oven you could lightly fry the zucchini on the stove.
What You’ll Need
For the zucchini:
- zucchini
- olive oil
- gluten-free flour blend
- gluten-free panko bread crumbs
- chili flakes
- grated vegan parmesan
- sea salt
- cracked pepper
For the Pasta:
- short noodle pasta
- Sea salt
- olive oil
- chili flakes
- onion diced
- garlic
- butter beans
- edamame
- vegan parmesan
- baby spinach
- hot pasta water
- Sea salt
- cracked pepper
- Olive oil to garnish
- More cheese to garnish
- Chili flakes to garnish
How to Make These Vegan Zucchini and Parmesan Noodles
Step one: Prepare the zucchini
Preheat the air fryer to 400 for 3 minutes. Toss zucchini with olive oil and then the coating until coated evenly. Place in the air fryer and cook for 8-10 minutes, shaking the3 basket halfway. The zucchini should be crispy and lightly browned.
Step two: Start making the pasta
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water with 1 tbsp of salt. Cook pasta until al dente. Reserve the water before draining.
Step three: Sauté the vegetables and beans
Heat olive oil in a large pan or dutch oven add chili flakes and onion. Sauté until onion is translucent and then add garlic, frozen edamame and butter beans. Cook for a few minutes stirring often. Add in cooked pasta, spinach and vegan cheese. Toss to combine. Add in a splash or 2 of pasta water, sea salt and cracked pepper and toss again.
Step four: Bring it all together
Finally, add in crispy zucchini, toss to combine, taste for seasoning and serve immediately. Finish with more vegan cheese, olive oil and chili flakes!
Simply Pasta: Vegan Zucchini and Parmesan Noodles
Ingredients
For the Zucchini:
- 1 medium sized zucchini - halved, quartered and cut into 1/4” pieces
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup gluten-free flour blend
- 1/4 cup gluten-free panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- 2-3 tbsp grated vegan parmesan
- 1/4 tsp sea salt and cracked pepper
For the Pasta:
- 300 grams short noodle pasta
- Sea salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Pinch chili flakes
- 1/2 onion diced
- 1 large clove garlic minced
- 1 cup canned butterbeans rinsed and drained
- 1 cup frozen edamame
- 3/4 cup grated vegan parmesan
- Handful baby spinach
- 1/2 cup hot pasta water
- Sea salt - cracked pepper
- Olive oil to garnish
- More cheese to garnish
- Chili flakes to garnish
Instructions
For the Zucchini:
For the Pasta:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Salt the water with 1 tbsp of salt.
- Cook pasta until al dente. (Reserve the water before draining.)
- Heat olive oil in a large pan or dutch oven add chili flakes and onion.
- Sauté until onion is translucent and then add garlic, frozen edamame and butter beans.
- Cook for a few minutes stirring often.
- Add in cooked pasta, spinach and cheese. Toss to combine.
- Add in a splash or 2 of pasta water, sea salt and cracked pepper and toss again.
- Finally, add in crispy zucchini, toss to combine, taste for seasoning and serve immediately. Finish with more cheese, olive oil and chili flakes!
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Recipe, text, and photography by Teri-Ann Carty.
If you loved this zucchini pasta recipe, you might also like…
Middle Eastern Style Stuffed Zucchini in Potato & Eggplant Stew
https://bestofvegan.com/vegan-sun-dried-tomato-pesto-with-zucchini-tagliatelle/
