Penne with Grilled Zucchini and Sweet Corn

Hello again! I hope you all had the chance to try the Oatmeal Carmelitas and share with them your friends and family. For tonight's dinner I wanted to make summer dish, since the weather has been warm and sunning all day. I finally feel like summer made it to Star Valley, lets just hope it stays! So I decided to make a spin-off on Rachael Ray's Penne with Summer Squash and Sweet Corn (from Every Day with Rachael Ray June/July 2011). You can find her original recipe here, on a fabulous blog called Taste and Tell. Instead of summer squash though, I used grilled zucchini, which tasted just as great. So this is how I threw it down.

Penne with Grilled Zucchini and Sweet Corn

1 pound whole wheat penne pasta
2 zucchinis- halved crosswise and each half cut lengthwise into 3 thick slabs
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 can sweet corn, drained
1 15-ounce container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 clove garlic, minced (I used 2-3 cloves, I like my dished extra garlicy!)
1 teaspoon parsley
salt and pepper to taste

                                                                    (Images taken from Google)

  

 Preheat a grill to medium-high. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente; drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot.

Meanwhile, brush the zucchini pieces with 1/4 cup olive oil and season with salt. Grill, turning once, until nicely charred, about 10 minutes. (Can also fry in skillet if you don't have a grill). When cool enough to handle, coarsely chop.

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, corn and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the ricotta, garlic and parsley; toss well. Add the drained pasta and stir in about 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta cooking water. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add more cooking water as desired.

Total time: 30 minutes
Serves: 6

The dish was a hit! The veges were warm and cooked through and the whole wheat pasta added a hearty flavor. Overall, I would make it again on any summer night. It was quick, easy and healthy.
Enjoy!





"And it was good!"