This Garden Harvest Pasta was made to use up a big variety of everything growing in the garden! By late summer, we've got loads of tomatoes, zucchini, green beans and basil, and the sweet corn is local and everywhere! A simple bacon cream sauce ties it all together, and this summer dinner is ready in 35 minutes!
- Fresh From the Garden! - By late summer, everything I'm cooking is just trying to keep up with what's coming out of the garden! This harvest pasta is fresh, healthy, delicious, and uses a big amount of what we're growing!
- Flexible, use what you have! - The vegetables here are what we often have an abundance of, but the amounts are flexible and you can use more or less, or leave out whatever you like! Different herbs, bell peppers, broccoli, spinach or kale would all be great substitutions.
- Need More Summer Garden Harvest Recipes? If your garden is bursting, try my Garden Harvest Tater Tot Casserole or any of these 50 Farmer's Market Recipes! Freeze some for winter with these 30 Ways to Preserve Your Garden without Canning!
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Ingredients & Substitutions
With just bacon, pasta, cream and Parmesan cheese, this simple pasta uses all those fresh veggies from the garden!
- Pasta - I like a short pasta here, like Penne, Ziti or Rigatoni. Before you drain the pasta, make sure to scoop out and save some of that starchy cooking water to use in the sauce!
- Bacon - Just a few strips of bacon are cooked first so the vegetables can be cooked in the bacon fat, adding big flavor to the whole dish.
- Zucchini - We have a pile on the countertop by August and it's a great veggie to throw in! Also try these 15 Ways to Use Garden Zucchini!
- Corn on the Cob - The sweet corn adds so much flavor, and while I usually don't grow it in the garden, you can get it locally just about anywhere by late summer!
- Onion and Garlic - Onions and garlic, whether from the garden or from the store, are the base flavors, cooked in the bacon fat to caramelize.
- Tomatoes - We've always got tomatoes coming in, and you can use any variety you have. Larger tomatoes can be chopped and cherry tomatoes are fine to throw in whole. Their juices become part of the sauce. Try these 21 Ways to Use Garden Tomatoes if you have a bunch!
- Green Beans and Peas - If you have green beans or peas, they are best cooked right along with the pasta instead of in the sauce. Try to pick them while they are young and tender. Peas are great because if you pick them early you can eat the pods raw, but if you wait, they will plump up with peas in them and you can shell them. They are edible and delicious either way, I only had a few peas from the pods to use in this dish, but use whatever amount you have.
- Heavy Cream and Parmesan - A very simple sauce is made with just heavy cream and a bit of the reserved pasta starchy cooking water. It will simmer and reduce along with your veggies and then Parmesan cheese finishes it.
- Basil - I usually grow a whole pack of basil from seed every year so we end up with loads of it! Add as much as you like, big leaves to garnish, or really any herbs you have like chives, parsley, rosemary, sage, oregano or thyme.
See recipe card below for full quantities.
Instructions
You can make the vegetable cream sauce in the time it takes to boil the pasta! Then just toss it all together with the bacon over the top and plenty of Parmesan cheese.
Step 1 - Set a pot of water to boil for the pasta. Add a good pinch of salt when it boils and cook the pasta for 12 minutes (follow package instructions).
Trim and chop the green beans and shell the peas. Add the green beans and peas to the boiling pasta in the last 3 minutes of cooking time.
So the pasta cooks for 9 minutes, and the green beans cook for 3 minutes, finished together in 12 minutes total.
Step 2 - Before you drain the pasta, scoop out and reserve about 1 or 2 cups of the starchy cooking pasta water. This will be used later for making the sauce.
Drain the pasta and green beans together in a colander and reserve for when the sauce is ready.
Step 3 - Meanwhile while the pasta cooks, prep your vegetables but keep them separate.
Chop zucchini and onion. Slice the corn from the cob, removing as much silk as you can. Tomatoes can be chopped or left whole depending on their size.
Step 4 - In a very large skillet over medium heat, add the chopped bacon, stirring occasionally until it is crisp and fully cooked, about 5 or 6 minutes.
Remove the bacon to a bowl and remove a couple spoonfuls of the bacon fat to another small bowl (to discard). Leave some fat in the skillet to cook the vegetables.
Step 5 - Add the onion and zucchini to the hot bacon fat and sauce, stirring occasionally, about 3 or 4 minutes.
It should begin to brown and get some color.
Step 6 - Add the raw corn and cook another 5 minutes.
Then add the tomatoes and garlic, seasoning the veggies with salt and pepper, and cook just another minute or two.
Step 7 - Add the cream and about 1 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water (once you've scooped it out).
Add the cooked bacon (you can save a little to crumble over the top at the end) and chopped basil.
Step 8 - You can stir your sauce together, adjusting the heat to a lower simmer so the cream can thicken slightly and the flavors can come together.
Step 9 - Add the drained pasta and green beans when they're ready and stir the whole dish together.
You can adjust the sauce by adding more of the pasta cooking water as needed. Stir in a big handful of Parmesan cheese.
Garnish the dish with more crumbled bacon, and plenty of Parmesan and basil leaves.
Recipe Notes & Tips
- The Bacon and the Fat - I used 5 strips of bacon so you can get bites throughout the pasta, but also so the veggies can cook in the bacon fat. This gives great flavor, but you can adjust the amount. Use more or less bacon, even just 1 or 2 strips, or if you want to leave it out, just sauté the veggies in olive oil.
- Adjusting the Cream Sauce - A cream sauce if constantly changing. The longer it sits on the burner and gets mixed with the pasta it will reduce as the steam escapes, thicken, be absorbed by the pasta, and eventually dry out. Turn the heat off, and add more of the reserved pasta water to loosed it back up. You can also thin it out with another splash of cream or milk, especially when reheating leftovers.
- Storage - Extra pasta can be stored in the fridge for 2 days and reheated in the microwave or on the stovetop. Add a splash of milk or cream when reheating as the pasta will have absorbed the sauce.
Recipe FAQs
This pasta is adjustable! You can use the same recipe with ¾'s of a pound of pasta to serve 2 or 3 people. Or use the full pound of pasta if serving 4 to 6. A full pound of pasta can stretch to 6 or 7 people with a few summer side dishes like my Peach Tomato Salad or Cherry Tomato Bruschetta!
Yes, half and half won't give you quite as rich and creamy of a sauce, but it will work fine. It will thicken as you toss it with the pasta.
Yes, the summer sweet corn is really delicious in this dish, but if you don't have corn on the cob, a half cup of frozen corn would be fine. The fresh peas are optional, but adding a handful of frozen peas towards the end would be good too.
More Summer Pastas!
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Garden Harvest Pasta
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Print Pin RateIngredients
- ¾ to 1 pound penne pasta BEFORE DRAINING, save 1 to 2 cups of the starchy pasta water
- 2 cups fresh green beans trimmed and chopped
- ¼ cup fresh garden peas (optional)
- 5 strips bacon chopped
- 1 small onion (about ½ cup ,chopped)
- 1 zucchini sliced in half circles
- 1 ear fresh corn on the cob
- 2 cups tomatoes (large tomatoes chopped or cherry tomatoes)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 grinds fresh black pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup fresh basil chopped
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese shredded
Instructions
- Chop and prep all ingredients. Trim the ends off the green beans, no need to trim the tips, and cut them in large pieces. Chop the onion, mince the garlic, slice the zucchini in half and cut into half moons. Chop larger tomatoes, cut cherry tomatoes in half or leave whole. Shell any peas if you have them. Peel and slice the kernels off 1 ear of raw sweet corn.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil, add a good pinch of salt and cook the pasta, about 12 minutes. In the last 3 minutes of cooking the pasta, add the green beans and peas to cook with the pasta. (Time the pasta for 9 minutes, then add the beans and cook 3 more minutes for a total of 12). BEFORE DRAINING, use a glass measuring cup or a coffee mug to scoop out 1 or 2 cups of the starchy pasta cooking liquid to reserve for making the sauce. Drain the pasta and green beans together and reserve in a colander.
- While the pasta cooks you can make the sauce. Preheat a very large skillet over medium heat and cook the chopped bacon, about 5 or 6 minutes until crisp but not burnt. Remove the bacon to a small bowl and spoon out a few Tablespoons of the bacon grease into another small bowl.
- To the hot skillet with some remaining bacon grease, sauté the onion and zucchini, about 3 or 4 minutes. Then add the corn and cook 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the tomatoes and garlic and season everything with salt and pepper. Give everything a big stir, letting the garlic get fragrant for another minute or two.
- Add the heavy cream, the cooked bacon (save a little bit for crumbling over the top), and the chopped basil. You can also add about 1 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water when you have it. Let the sauce simmer over low heat, it will gently thicken.
- When ready, add the pasta with the green beans and peas and the Parmesan cheese. Stir everything together until mixed well. It will continue to thicken as the pasta absorbs the sauce. You can turn off the heat when the sauce is the right consistency.
- Adjust the sauce with more starchy cooking water if it becomes too thick, or just let it keep simmering if it is too thin. Serve each bowl with more Parmesan cheese, bacon crumbles, and basil sprigs to garnish.
Notes
- Pasta Amount - Use about ¾ pound of pasta to serve 2 to 3 people, or 1 pound to serve 4 to 6. The sauce and other ingredients can remain the same.
- Save the Pasta Water - Scoop out some of the starchy liquid from the boiling pasta before you drain it. Use it in the sauce, and you can continue to add more if the pasta ever becomes too dry. You can also add another splash of cream or milk to loosen up the pasta at any time, especially when reheating leftovers.
- Vegetable Amounts are flexible and don't need to be exact, use what you have.
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