Oh, what a wonderful summertime dinner this is. Especially if you have your own vegetable garden and are looking for ways to use your harvest. With the exceptions of the cheese and pasta, everything in this recipe can be found right in my own garden during the growing season.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs sun dried tomato oil
• 1/2 red onion (or any other onion you have) – diced
• 1/4 tsp red chili flakes (completely optional)
• 1 Tbs garlic – minced
• 1 medium zucchini – cut into bite sized peices
• 2 cups baby spinach – uncooked
• 6 Campari (or similar sized) tomatoes – quartered
• 10 sun-dried tomatoes – sliced in half lengthwise
• salt & pepper to your taste
• 10 oz your favorite pasta (penne, spaghetti, rottini)
• Parmesan cheese for topping (optional)

Instructions:

• In a pot, bring salted water to a boil and cook the pasta to al dente per package instructions. Save about a cup of the pasta water, just in case you need to add it as you cook. Do not rinse the pasta.
• Dice the onion, cut the zucchini, quarter the Campari, and slice the sun-dried tomatoes
• Heat the oil over medium-low in a deep sauté pan. Add the onions and cook, stirring them frequently until soft and pale. Don’t brown them.
• Add the chili flakes and stir them around in the oil for a minute or so to release some flavor. Add the garlic and do the same.
• Add 1/4 tsp of salt and a pinch of black pepper.
• Add the zucchini and cook until just starting to soften.
• Add in the sun-dried tomatoes.
• Add in the spinach and as it starts to wilt, stir it in. As soon as it is wilted your dish is done.
• You can either stir your pasta in at this point, or keep it separate and plate it, topping off with the veggie mix.
• Parmesan cheese for topping if wanted.

Notes:

• I like to use the oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes. If taking the oil out of the jar will leave any of your remaining tomatoes exposed to air, you can top that off with olive oil, which will then be flavored for next time!
• If you don’t like spicy, leave the red chili pepper flakes out.
• You can use grape or cherry tomatoes too. Sometimes I have those sitting around left over from the makings for a salad and want to use them up. Just cut them in half instead of quartering them. I just like the juiciness and flavor of the larger tomatoes – they make more sauce.