This easy Summer Pasta is light and fresh-tasting with loads of summer produce — cherry tomatoes, sweet corn, zucchini, baby spinach, and red peppers. We toss the veggies in a light cream sauce with spaghetti and ground Italian sausage for a restaurant-quality meal right in your home!
Next time, try one of our refreshing summer pasta salads like this Mediterranean Pasta Salad, Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad, Italian Pasta Salad, or Greek Pasta Salad.
Summer Pasta Recipe
This pasta recipe is brimming with flavor and good summer produce — crisp corn, roasted red peppers, shredded zucchini, baby spinach, and sweet cherry tomatoes. The cream sauce is light and fresh-tasting while still delivering a restaurant-quality feel. The sauce is a lot lighter than most pasta recipes because we use the liquid from the tomatoes and zucchini to contribute a good amount of sauciness instead of solely relying on cream and butter.
Quick Tip
Check out some of our other favorite summer pasta recipes like Broccoli Pasta, Corn and Sausage Pasta, or Zucchini Pasta Sauce.
Summer Pasta Ingredients
Some of the ingredients in this dish are worth diving deeper into:
- Mild Italian sausage: Depending on personal preference, use mild or spicy sausage — either works and both are delicious. Make sure to remove the casings before cooking.
- Corn. We tested this recipe with both frozen and fresh sweet corn — either works great. For fresh corn, you can boil or grill it before cutting off the kernels if preferred. We like the corn to retain its crispness, so we just cut it off and add it in uncooked!
- Cherry tomatoes. We love the sweetness and juiciness of cherry tomatoes — this type of tomato is a must for the Summer Pasta sauce!
- Roasted red pepper strips. To save loads of time roasting peppers, you can buy pre-roasted (and chopped/sliced) pepper strips. You can find these roasted red pepper strips near canned pasta sauces, jarred pesto, or near ingredients like artichoke hearts.
- Parmesan cheese: For the perfect melt and to ensure the measurement is accurate (so the dish isn’t too salty), use a block of Parmesan cheese and grate it on the small holes of your cheese grater. Measure and add!
- Heavy cream. We don’t recommend swapping out the heavy cream. There isn’t a lot, but the small amount pulls everything together, adding such an incredible richness and thickness — it’s a key ingredient to making the best summer pasta! Half and half/milk/other substitutes simply won’t thicken the same.
- Basil. While optional, the basil at the end adds an immense flavor and freshness to this dish.
How To Make Summer Pasta With Zucchini
Here are our top tips for this Summer Pasta recipe:
- Salt the pasta water: Make sure the pasta is well salted as it cooks, since salting the water is the only chance you have to season the actual spaghetti.
- It’s easy to go on autopilot and dump in the whole package of spaghetti, but this Summer Pasta is perfect with 8 ounces (there won’t be enough sauce to cover 16 ounces). Many packages contain 16 ounces, so save the other half to make this dish again some other time!
- Increase the sauce as desired: Sometimes the pasta absorbs more sauce or you just want an extra saucy meal, so don’t be afraid to add in a few splashes of the reserved pasta water until the sauce is exactly how you like it!
Quick Tip
Do you struggle to remember to pull out pasta water before draining the pasta? I know I do! Here’s a trick: Place the colander in the sink with a mug or heat-safe measuring cup in the center. When you go to drain the pasta, you’ll be reminded to pull out some water first!
Storage
Summer Pasta Storage
This recipe is best enjoyed the minute the sauce is emulsified. In fact, this is when all Italian-type pasta dishes taste their best!
You can certainly store leftover summer pasta, but you’ll likely need to add some more heavy cream to loosen the sauce again as you reheat the pasta. Leftover pasta will be softer, but still plenty flavorful. Because of the pasta and dairy in this dish, it isn’t a great candidate for freezing and thawing.
More Summer-Inspired Dishes:
- Summer Couscous Salad with corn, tomatoes, and avocado
- Vegetable Pasta with a corn-based sauce
- Green Chile Turkey Burgers with fire-roasted green chiles
- Pineapple Steak with grilled sweet pineapple
- Potato Corn Chowder with basil pesto and fresh corn
Summer Pasta
Equipment
- Large cast-iron pan
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces mild Italian sausage see note 1
- 8 ounces spaghetti not the entire box
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 (10.5-ounce) container cherry tomatoes 2 cups
- 1-1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 cup fresh corn or frozen corn, see note 2
- 2 cups grated zucchini
- 1 cup roasted red pepper strips
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 4 cups fresh spinach coarsely chopped
- 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese divided, not canned Parmesan
- Toppings as desired see note 3
Instructions
- Halve cherry tomatoes (quarter if large). Coarsely chop spinach. Shuck and cut fresh corn off the cob. Drain and coarsely chop red pepper strips. Grate zucchini using a large grater. Boil a large pot of water.
- Heat a large, cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Cook sausage, breaking apart, until browned (6–8 minutes). Remove sausage with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel-lined bowl. Drain excess grease if more than 2 tablespoons.
- Add butter, cherry tomatoes, corn, red peppers, zucchini, and minced garlic to the pan. Season with salt/pepper (I add 3/4 teaspoon each, but add to preference), and Italian seasoning. Sauté for 5–6 minutes until most liquid evaporates.
- Once water is boiling, generously salt water; I add 2 teaspoons salt. Cook pasta according to package instructions—minus 1 minute from what package indicates. Reserve some pasta water (see note 4). Drain.
- Back to the sauce, reduce heat to low. Add cream and 1/3 cup Parmesan. Stir. Bring to a low simmer and simmer until thickened and cheese is melted, about 1–2 minutes. Add chopped spinach, cooked sausage, drained cooked pasta, and a squeeze of lemon (if using). Switch to tongs. Tossing constantly, gradually add the last 1/3 cup Parmesan, a tablespoon at a time, until pasta and sauce are nicely emulsified (see note 5).
- Add an extra splash of cream or reserved pasta water (if needed) to thin the sauce. Toss until creamy and the sauce coats the pasta. Taste, adding extra salt/pepper if needed. Top individual plates with additional grated Parmesan and basil (add to taste) if desired. Enjoy!
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this tonight and it was so incredibly flavourful!! Definitely a keeper and will be making again!! Delish! I added about 2/3 of a cup of Parmesan cheese.
I am so thrilled to hear this! Thanks Kim! 🙂