Today I am sharing a delicious and simple recipe for creamy penne with zucchini and walnuts, a vegetarian recipe that will make your mouth water. This dish is great if you want to cook quickly and easily and enjoy good food.
This recipe uses fresh ingredients. The zucchini gives a soft bite and a healthy portion of vegetables, the walnuts have a nutty taste, and the Parmesan flavor makes it salty. That added to a creamy sour cream sauce, a delicious recipe.
A creamy and savory dish: Penne with Zucchini
I like pasta, always have. And on a weekday, a quick pasta meal is a godsend. Sports, appointments, and meetings. Everyone comes home at a different time. But in addition to good food, it also contains enough vegetables. And that's why this penne with zucchini dish.
Zucchini and walnuts may not be a combination that immediately comes to mind, but in the delicious pasta recipe, it is super tasty. You stew the zucchini together with onion and some thyme so that it absorbs all those delightful flavors. And in the meantime, you cook the penne. You stir it with sour cream and some parsley (deliciously fresh) and serve it with Parmesan cheeseÂ
and chopped walnuts.
Of course, you can also mix the last two in advance, but when you serve them separately, the walnuts will remain crunchy, and the Parmesan cheese will give it a great flavor.
I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we do!
What do you need for Creamy Zucchini Penne?
To prepare this Penne with Zucchini, you require the following ingredients. You can find the correct amounts in the recipe card at the bottom of the blog:
- Butter and Oil: To cook the onion, thyme, and courgettes. It gets a delicious taste and becomes creamy because of the butter.
- Red onions: A beautiful red color. It is less sharp in taste compared to the 'normal' yellow onion.
- Zucchini: It naturally has a mild, slightly sweet flavor and juicy texture. If you bake it in combination with other ingredients, it will absorb those flavors.
- Walnuts: Provide a nutty flavor. Toast them lightly before adding them to intensify the flavor.
- Sour cream: This is a thick, lightly soured cream. It gives a very full flavor and is delicious as a topping.
- Thyme: Dried has a spicy aromatic taste with a slightly bitter aftertaste. It is warm and woody, reminiscent of rosemary and oregano.
- Penne: Elongated hollow tubes of pasta cut diagonally.
- Parsley: Gives a fresh taste to the Penne with Zucchini.
- Parmesan cheese: A delicious salty cheese from Italian cuisine.
How to prepare Penne with Zucchini and Walnuts
You can find a printable recipe with a step-by-step description at the bottom of this blog.
- Melt the butter with the oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and fry for 3 minutes until translucent. Mix the thyme and courgettes through the onion mixture. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan with a lid, and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente and drain. Add the sour cream and parsley.
- Put the zucchini mixture into the pot with the pasta and mix well.
- Add the walnuts and Parmesan cheese (or serve them separately) and serve!
Tips, Substitutions, and Variations
- You can also replace penne with tagliatelle or fusilli.
- Extra vegetables: Add diced bell peppers, slices of mushrooms, or eggplant for different vegetables and flavors.
- Walnuts: can also be replaced with roasted pine nuts.
- Parmesan cheese: This recipe with Feta or Goat cheese is also delicious.
- Cut the zucchini into half moons. Then you get a delicious mixture of zucchini with penne on your fork.
- Cook your pasta al dente (for instructions, see the packaging). This way, you keep a bite, and that is an excellent combination with this recipe with the soft zucchini and the crunchy walnut.
- Extra flavor: add sun-dried tomato strips. Tomato and zucchini is always a good combination.
- Still, want meat? Fried bacon or smoked chicken cubes are delicious here!
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Penne with Zucchini
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 2 red onions chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 large zucchini sliced and halved.
- 2 cups Penne
- 2 tablespoons Fresh Parsley finely chopped
- ½ cup sour cream
- 4 tablespoons walnuts coarsely chopped
- 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese grated
Ingredients you need per step are listed below the step in Italic
Instructions
- Heat a frying pan with butter and oil until hot.2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes until translucent.2 red onions
- Mix the thyme and zucchini with the onion.1 teaspoon dried thyme, 2 large zucchini
- Reduce heat to low, put the lid on the pan, and simmer for 15 minutes.
- In a large pot filled with boiling water, boil the penne according to the manufacturer's instructions until al dente.2 cups Penne
- Drain and mix with sour cream and parsley.2 tablespoons Fresh Parsley, ½ cup sour cream
- Then mix the zucchini mixture through.
- Serve immediately with the walnut and Parmesan cheese as a side.4 tablespoons walnuts, 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Notes
- Penne: Cook your pasta al dente (for instructions, see the packaging). This way, you keep a bite, and that is an excellent combination with this recipe with the soft zucchini and the crunchy walnut.
- Zucchini: Cut the zucchini into half moons. Then you get a delicious mixture of zucchini with penne on your fork.
- You can also replace penne with tagliatelle or fusilli.
- Walnuts: can also be replaced with roasted pine nuts.
- Extra vegetables: Add diced bell peppers, slices of mushrooms, or eggplant for extra vegetables and flavor.
- Parmesan cheese: This recipe with Feta or Goat cheese is also delicious.
- Extra flavor: add sun-dried tomato strips. Tomato and zucchini is always a good combination.
- Still in need of meat? Fried bacon or smoked chicken cubes are delicious here!
- Refrigerator: After letting the pasta cool, cover it with plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days. TIP: If you have leftovers, let them cool down, store them in the refrigerator and eat them as a pasta salad.
- Freezer: Put the penne with zucchini in a freezer box or bag and store it in the freezer for two months. Let thaw in the refrigerator.
- Reheat: Warm up the creamy zucchini penne in the microwave, in an oven dish (covered with aluminum foil for 15 minutes at 430 °F (ca. 221 °C) or until warm), or in a pan. Note that there is sour cream in the pasta. So, stir well and heat until the pasta is hot, but do not bring it to a boil.
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