Spaghetti with Grilled Zucchini Sauce
by: Three Many Cooks
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 12 ounces thin spaghetti
- 8 Italian plum tomatoes, halved
- 2 medium-large zucchini, cut into rounds on a slight diagonal
- 1 large red onion, cut into thick slabs
- 1 small whole garlic head
- ¼ cup olive oil, divided
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- Salt and ground black pepper
- ¼ cup pitted kalamata olives
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese, divided
Instructions
- Heat all burners of a gas grill on high. Bring 2 quarts of generously salted water to boil in a large soup kettle. Add pasta; using back-of-the-box times as a guide cook, partially covered and stirring frequently at first to prevent sticking, until just tender. Reserving ½ cup of the cooking liquid, drain pasta and return it to the pot.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl toss tomatoes, zucchini, onion, and garlic with 3 tablespoons of the oil, oregano, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper.
- Place tomatoes (cut side up), zucchini, onion, and garlic in a single layer on a hot rack; cover and grill tomatoes without turning until skins have darkened and flesh is soft. Grill zucchini, onion, and garlic, turning only once, until grilled marked, about 10 minutes. Transfer tomatoes to the work bowl of a food processor. When cool enough to handle, slip garlic cloves out of skin and into food processor, along with olives and remaining tablespoon of oil; process until smooth. Transfer zucchini and onion to a medium bowl. When cool enough to handle, separate onion rounds into rings and toss ½ cup of the tomato sauce over warm vegetables. Toss remaining sauce along ¼ cup of the feta cheese and as much of the reserved cooking liquid as necessary to make a moist pasta.
- Arrange pasta on each of 4 pasta plates, top with vegetables, sprinkle with remaining feta, and serve.
Oh my gosh, I just got giddy pants looking at that dish!
If you are looking for even more zucchini and pasta recipes, the one I posted on my blog is super easy and super good. http://www.aldentepasta.com Monique’s blog, pasta with zucchini, ricotta and mint.