12 Fresh & Easy Weeknight Pasta Recipes for Summer
Quick and easy pasta dinners are such a great way to use up all the fresh veggies parading through the market during the summer. Here are some of our favorites!
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Pasta has so much going for it: it’s inexpensive, it’s easy to cook, and it’s a blank canvas for the continuous parade of fresh veggies that appear from May through September.
I’m pretty certain I make pasta more in the summer than in the winter -- and if that’s not the case, I’m definitely more creative and less inclined toward red sauces in the summertime!
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Angel Hair Pasta with Quick Cherry Tomato Sauce
Sheryl Julian I don’t think you can get much faster than angel hair, which cooks in a flash. These cherry tomatoes blister and a pop in a sauté pan, making a speedy sauce.
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Pesto Pasta with Spinach and Avocado
Elise Bauer This pasta dish is loaded with green things: mint, peas, spinach and pesto. Oh, and you get an extra dose of creaminess with some avocado!
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Pasta with Eggplant, Feta, and Mint
Elise Bauer It’s no accident that feta cheese tastes crisp and refreshing on summer dishes—you'll often find it in traditional dishes from places where the weather is warm. Use fresh eggplant and mint and this summer dinner is served.
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Pressure Cooker Pasta Primavera
Coco Morante Ok, so primavera means spring, but it's easy to swap out the veggies for whatever is in season with this recipe.
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Zucchini Pasta Carbonara
Elise Bauer Give pasta carbonara a summery spin and use up some garden zucchini while you're at it! You could also throw in some corn, fresh chopped tomatoes, or any other veggies you have on hand.
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Pasta Pomodoro with Shrimp
Elise Bauer A bag of frozen shrimp thaws fast, angel hair cooks even faster, and fresh tomatoes create the flavorful sauce for this rapid fire dinner.
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Creamy Ziti Florentine
Sally Vargas Ricotta cheese lends so much to a quick pasta sauce, which is balanced by the bitterness of the greens.
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Whole Wheat Pasta with Kale Pesto
Sally Vargas This recipe sounds virtuous, what with the pesto made of kale and cashews (no pine nuts here). It also happens to be a quick and easy way to use up a bunch of kale, which seems to hang out on the farmers’ market tables and in gardens all summer.
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Creamy Chicken and Asparagus Pasta
Elise Bauer Goat cheese, nutmeg, and lemon make up the flavor profile of this easy weeknight dish. If you’ve got some leftover chicken in the fridge, it’ll come together even faster.
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Pasta with Tuna and Arugula
Elise Bauer If you have a box of pasta and a can of tuna, you’re partway to having this dinner on the table. Baby spinach would substitute well if you don’t have arugula, but it just won’t have the same zip.
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Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Bacon, and Eggs
Sally Vargas It’s breakfast, but it’s dinner. Maybe it’s both. A poached egg often makes everything better, and that’s true with this dish.
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Browned butter makes everything taste nutty—and works well with mushrooms and spinach.