Garden Harvest Pasta

Garden vegetable harvest pasta with bacon crumbles.

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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!

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Total Time35

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Servings: to 6

Calories: 868kcal

Author: Meryl Downing

Ingredients

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.

Nutrition