This is the first summer in a long time that I didn’t plant a garden. You guys know that with my background in horticulture and my current-ground (yes I made that term up, why doesn’t anyone else say it?) in food, that a vegetable garden is something I’m passionate about. I am really missing a backyard abundant in tomatoes, zucchini, and fresh herbs this year. The reason why we didn’t plant anything earlier this spring is because we’re moving! We’re building a house right now (not far from where we currently live, in Idaho) and the thought of tending my precious garden all summer long and then leaving it behind just when everything was ready to eat pained my heart. Although now I’m kind of regretting that decision because our house probably won’t be done until after the growing season so had I planned that better, I could have been up to my ears in squash right now.
Buuuut, back to the food. I was thinking about my non-existent garden the other day and started craving sweet little tomatoes and tender zucchini.
I created this recipe to be a healthy one! I’m in a calorie-counting phase of life at the moment, so I wanted to show you how you can still have really delicious, filling food- even pasta and cream sauce, and stick to a healthy diet. There are a few great tricks in here, so pay attention folks. Let’s get cookin’.
Here’s one of the secrets to this recipe. It’s a trick I sometimes use on my kids. Shhhh… Slice a zucchini in thin slices vertically. I used a mandoline to make it quick and easy. If you don’t have a mandoline, it’s a pretty useful kitchen gadget. I use this one– it’s inexpensive and works great! If you don’t have a mandoline, you can use a vegetable peeler. You want them about 1/8 inch thick.
Now cut them the other direction, like this:
Can you see where we’re going here? What do those look like? Noodles, baby! If you want to really trick your kids, peel off the green stuff first and mix it with spaghetti) We’re going to drop these zucchini noodles right into the pot with the pasta, at the end. Since it’s the same size and shape, it blends in perfectly. This allows you to get much more on your plate, with less calories. Win-win! We’ll come back to the zucchini.
Next you’ll need some little tomatoes. I’m using a 10oz carton you can buy at the store. it’s about 2 cups.
Quickly saute those up; it only takes a couple of minutes. You should stop when they look a little blistered and just barely start to burst. At this point they’ve released some sweetness and it’s caramelized in the pan to develop a whole new depth of flavor.
Scoop those little guys out of the pan and set them aside. Chop up a few cloves of garlic and give them a quick saute in your same pan. Once those are golden, add a little chicken broth. As the chicken broth simmers, you can scrape all of the little browned bits off the bottom of the pan- they add tons of flavor here.
Now for the secret to our sinfully creamy sauce. Kate and I almost never use fat-free cream cheese. We don’t recommend it for baking, and I don’t really like it in dips, but the one place it does work really well is when it’s melted into a sauce, like this. We just need the creaminess, and fat-free cream cheese has significantly less calories than even the reduced fat kind. Obviously feel free to use any of the three, but know that fat-free works great.
In the printable instructions I explain the best way to get the cream cheese melted and the sauce smooth, so make sure to read that [note: don’t just drop it in the sauce!] but when it’s all done it’s super creamy and flavorful. And we only used 3 ounces of cream cheese, that’s less than 1/2 of a block. When that’s nice and smooth, toss in some fresh basil and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
Stir it up and then add in the cooked pasta and zucchini. See how creamy that is? It’s not drenched and heavy, it’s just a light coating that adds both flavor and texture to the pasta.
You can stir the tomatoes in, or I like to just place them on top because they look so pretty.
You get those super sweet tomatoes, with pieces of fresh basil and creamy sauce-coated pasta and just a hint of lemon and garlic. It’s the perfect bite.
Now here’s the awesome part. This recipe makes 4 generous main dish servings. Like, that whole bowl you see in the pictures- and in that entire bowl of deliciousness, there are only about 286 calories. Two hundred and eighty six! So if you think you have to give up pasta and creamy sauces when trying to eat healthy, think again. That even leaves plenty of caloric room to toss some grilled chicken on top. And maybe eat a cookie. (I won’t tell if you don’t.)
PrintZucchini Ribbon Pasta with Creamy Lemon-Basil Sauce
- Yield: 4
Description
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb (or 8 oz) fettuccine
- 1 medium zucchini
- 2 tsp olive oil, divided
- 10 ounces grape tomatoes (about 2 cups)
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- 3–4 cloves finely minced garlic
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 3 ounces fat-free cream cheese
- 1 cup very loosely packed basil, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice, more if desired
Instructions
Prepare a pot of water and cook pasta according to package instructions. Cut ends off zucchini and slice along the long direction, cutting the zucchini into about ⅛ inch slices. Cut each of those slices into long pieces, about the same size as the fettuccine (see photos above for explanation). Set zucchini aside.
Heat a medium size skillet to medium heat. When hot, add 1 teaspoon olive oil. Add tomatoes and give them a little sprinkle of kosher salt and a few cracks of black pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 3-4 minutes. Just until they start to burst and look blistered. Remove tomatoes from pan and place in a small dish, covered, and set aside.
Add another 1 teaspoon olive oil to the empty pan and add garlic. Stir constantly on medium-low heat for about 30-60 seconds. Add chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and use a spatula to scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 1-2 minutes and then reduce heat to low.
Place cream cheese in a microwave-safe bowl and soften for 20-30 seconds, until it can be easily stirred smooth. Ladle in a couple spoonfuls of the chicken broth mixture into the cream cheese and stir to combine. Once the mixture is smooth, add it to the pan with the remaining broth mixture and whisk until smooth and creamy. Add chopped basil and lemon juice and stir to combine. Taste sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste. (Lemon lovers can also squeeze in extra lemon juice at this point.)
When pasta is just about done, add zucchini strips to pot (so they’re cooking with the pasta). Boil for about 2 minutes, or until tender. Drain zucchini and pasta and combine with sauce. Gently toss in tomatoes, or simply add them on top of each serving. Garnish with additional basil if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
- Calories: 294kcal
- Sugar: 6g
- Sodium: 674mg
- Fat: 4g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 51g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 14g
- Cholesterol: 3mg
Questions & Reviews
Loved this! My two year old picked out the zucchini, but it’s still a keeper.
What a beautiful summer salad and a great way to use the plethora of zucchini!!
Just made this for lunch and WOW, the portions are HUGE! So Yummmmmmyyyy!!! It’s like a healthy fettucine alfredo, but without the guilt too. I added some grilled chicken to mine sine I’m pregnant for some protein. Can’t wait to make this again!!
Planning on making a version of this for my no-carb-hubby using all the yumminess, but no noodles!
OOOOHHH You are fabulous! Just trying to figure out what to do with the my zucchini and cherry tomatoes, and feeling guilty I haven’t hardly used any of my basil this year yet. HOORAY for a great solution. If you lived closer, I’d bring you a giant box. Thanks again. PS-made your chicken skewers (again using up zucchini) and they were fabulous!! We are using the leftover (clean) marinade as salad dressing and loving it. I think I’ll make a pasta salad with it as well. You guys make cooking 300 times better.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!! I am not a fan of cooked zucchini, but I AM a fan of something new and low-cal,low-fat and healthy to eat!! I am determined to lose weight and when I see posts like this my heart literally sings. SINGS I tell you! You rock.
Zucchini noodles?! Wow! This is a great idea! I bet they my daughter will still find them, even if I peel them.
Another must make! You are really speaking my language on this one. 🙂
This IS amazing. Just finished dinner and wow! One addition perhaps is some parmesian cheese.
Who is building your house? You should of had my husbands company do it, tradition custom homes!
There is hope as others have said, however, I’m sorry to be the 4128th person to say it ain’t likely! We moved into our new house in March but we were supposed to be in by last Nov.-Dec. And I sure feel your pain about missing out on your garden during this building process. We had to live in a rental during the build and had to give up our wonderful garden with our zillions of strawberries which I missed turning into a year’s worth of your incredible strawberry sauce.
Best wishes on your new house and future garden!
YES Our house was done on time and we loved every second of building!
It’s been about 5 years now but I would do it all over again in a second!
Can I suggest taking many many photos of the process especially of things that are covered up or under flooring that way you have a good idea where things are located etc …Enjoy!
Ooh, sounds delicious! Thanks so much for posting a new low-cal dish! We are counting calories right now too & seeing all the yummy dessert posts lately has been rough on my sense of self control. 😛 We’ll definitely be trying this recipe ASAP though! 🙂
I am having a SUPER abundance of zucchini (yay!) so I will add this to my list!
Thanks!
I can’t wait to try this recipe out! I have tried for the second summer in a row to have (containers) a garden, but slugs and animals keep getting most of the crop:(
My husband and I have built 3 houses over 25 years and they have all been completed within a week or so of the date we were told they would be. There is hope!
Love the sound of that lemon basil sauce!!
Um, yum!
My husband’s boss has done that exact thing you feared!! Everything in his garden will ripen in about two weeks, and the new owners take possession on Friday, and they are moving tomorrow! Their house was on the market for about a year and a half, so I think he though nothing of planting a garden with the housing situation the way it is right now… Maybe you could have done some container gardening though?? Maybe still with the heat we’re having…long summer?
So is there anything to use instead of cherry tomatoes? I’ve got kids that love green veg but not tomatoes…trying to think of something that would give me some carmelization…
Peppers, mushrooms, broccoli?
Mmmmm sounds delish! Can’t wait to make this. Also, thanks for the mandoline recommendation. I’ve been wanting to get one for a long time – but there are so many out there and some are sooo expensive. I hate it when I’ve spent money on something (even if it’s only a small amount), only to get it home and find that is sub-par in quality. I’ve already added the mandoline to my amazon cart. 🙂
You two are so great, my family and I cook from your cookbook and/or site several times a week. Good luck with the house! The good news is, no matter how frustrating things are right now, it will all be worth it when you are in your fabulous new home!
This looks awesome. This might be my next dinner party contribution.
On a side note, I wanna see the finished product of what your boys do with the construction scraps.
You are a genius.
This sounds great! My boyfriend and I are on a diabetic diet, so if I throw some chicken in this, it’ll be perfect for us. And I’ve got lots of homemade Greek yogurt, so I’ll sub that for the cream cheese for some extra protein.
Thank you for this!
When you used the Greek Yogurt, did it turn out well? I sometimes find my greek yogurt curdles when I heat it! Thanks!
Our house was done exactly the 120 days they said it would take to build! Good luck on your move. Cant wait to make this yummy pasta tomorrow night.
Oh my…this looks scrumptious! I am definitely going to have to try this one.
I enjoy sneaking in the vegetables into the dish
Don’t know how you do it, but I always end up wanting to make all of your recipes. I first saw the name and I’m not a fan of zucchini, but then I started reading and it all just sounded so appetizing and easy and such a wonderful summer meal. And it’s hard to make things sound appetizing these days as I’m experiencing morning sickness right now. Argh!
If you’re not a zucchini fan, this is perfect for you! If you peel it first, you won’t even notice it in there. Good luck with the morning sickness, that’s the worst!
This looks beautiful and I bet it tastes gorgeous. Love that it’s lightened up too!
This sounds like a perfect summer dinner. I feel your garden pain. We planted on but the deer have eaten everything. Last Sunday I had dozens of green tomatoes and I was so excited for them to ripen but the deer ate them all before I got any. They also ate the leaves off my zucchini plants before the flowers could turn into anything edible. Boo hoo!
Oh, boo! I think planting and having deer eat it is worse than not planting at all, lol!
We just finished dinner and this was DELICIOUS! My zucchini strips didn’t look as noodley as yours and I’m pretty sure I need a mandolin for my birthday next month. 🙂 This is my favorite kind of recipe because with each delicious bite I thought of another variation that would also be great — add broccoli or spinach, use artichokes or asparagus instead of tomatoes, use tomatoes, artichokes, asparagus, broccoli and spinach all together for a very vegetableish version. There are so many possibilities and they all sound delicious! Thanks for a fantastic recipe!
This looks awesome. I can’t wait to try it. We’re also building a house right now, and although it’s not going to be done on time, they’re only taking one extra week. I live in Georgia and that seems to be pretty standard around here. Good luck! I hope your house is done on time or close to it!
I would totally take a week. That’s pretty impressive, congrats!
Sounds delicious! Love the zucchini-noodle trick:) And good luck with the house!
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