Try Summer Sauce this summer

Mr. Dale Jaecks is a good friend of The Reporter Gang and he has twice blessed us this summer with lots and lots of his homegrown tomatoes. I was looking for a recipe to do something different with his tomatoes and I ran across this recipe for “Summer Sauce.” We have all of these herbs except parsley growing in the yard.

I guess it’s basically a loose pesto without any pine nuts but with the addition of mint and lemon zest and juice, but it sounds good to me. I could see it as a salad dressing, or mixed with mayo for a sandwich spread, a topping for grilled veggies or spread atop Dale Jaecks’ sliced tomatoes.

Summer Sauce

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup loosely-packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

1/4 cup loosely-packed fresh mint leaves

1 tbsp lemon zest

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp kosher salt

1 garlic clove

Process all ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add additional salt or lemon juice, if desired. Cover and chill until ready to use. Use within 2 days.

—kwc—

Here’s an easy summer pasta dish to help use up some zucchini. You could also substitute diced fresh tomatoes for the can of tomatoes.

Vegetable Spaghetti

1 lb spaghetti

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 zucchini, sliced

1 carrot, chopped

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 (28-oz.) can diced tomatoes

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Kosher salt

Freshly-ground black pepper

Sliced basil, for garnish

Freshly-grated Parmesan, for garnish

In a large pot of boiling water, cook spaghetti according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup pasta water then drain spaghetti.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil then add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add zucchini, carrot, and red onion and cook until soft, 7 minutes. Stir in tomato paste then add diced tomatoes and season with Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, simmer 10 minutes.

Add spaghetti to skillet and 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water and toss to combine. Add more pasta water as necessary to bring sauce together.

Garnish with basil and Parmesan to serve.