1450 farm
Learning as we grow on our small farm in lfk
Easy Balsamic Summer Squash Pasta
We’re entering the time of year when gardeners and market farmers are about to be up to their ears in summer squash. If you’ve grown tired of it, you can go with the tried-and-true method of leaving a bag of the stuff on your neighbor’s porch, ringing the door bell, and running back to your house, but I would recommend trying a light pasta dish with it first. We got our garden in late, so we’re just now getting to the joyous-abundance-of-squash phase of the year. With our first harvest, we decided to make a light, simple pasta dish to accompany the heat and humidity that have settled into Eastern Kansas this summer. Give it a try and let us know how you like it and feel free to share any of your favorite summer squash recipes!
Easy Balsamic Summer Squash Pasta
Ingredients:
16 oz of your favorite pasta (we used Strozzapreti)
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 small summer squash (we used crookneck yellow squash & a zucchini)
3 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs Olive Oil or bacon grease
Splash or two or three of Balsamic vinegar
Shredded Parmesan to taste
Fry up the bacon and set aside while you make the rest of the dish. If you want to use the bacon grease to sauté the veggies, omit the olive oil from the ingredients. If you cook your bacon in the oven, I can’t help you. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta per the package’s directions. While the pasta is cooking, sauté the garlic in either olive oil or bacon grease over medium heat for a minute. Add the squash and continue to sauté until the squash is tender. Once squash is tender, add a few splashes of balsamic vinegar to the mix and sauté a little longer. When the pasta is done cooking, drain and return to pot. While pasta is still hot, add butter to pasta and mix. Mix in the cooked squash, bacon, and lemon juice. Salt and pepper to taste. Add Parmesan to each serving of pasta.
We like to accompany this dish with a hearty loaf of bread from our local bakery along with a healthy heap of fruit. We’ve also found that alerting our kids to the fact that the food we’re eating came from our garden seems to motivate them to eat it a little better. It’s especially helpful if they helped plant or harvest whatever it is we’re eating. So, if your kids don’t like to eat veggies, try growing them together!
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