A handful of simple ingredients combine to make this GORGEOUSLY silky lemon courgette pasta. Cook sliced courgettes – or zucchini – with garlic, lemon and chili until they break down, then toss with parmesan and pasta water to create a luscious, creamy sauce with no actual cream needed. It’s speedy enough for weeknights and special enough for date nights or entertaining.
Table of Contents
- Lemon Courgette Pasta, at a Glance
- An Easy, Lemony Twist on Spaghetti alla Nerano
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- How to Make Lemony Courgette Pasta
- Kate’s Tips for a Silky Courgette Sauce
- Courgette Pasta FAQs
- Like this recipe? Here are more quick pasta ideas you might enjoy
- Courgette (Zucchini) and Lemon Pasta Recipe
Lemon Courgette Pasta, at a Glance
⏰ Total Time: 30 minutes
🍽️ Makes: 4 servings
🛒 Key Ingredients: Courgettes, lemon, garlic, chilli flakes, parmesan, pasta
🧠 Skill Level: Beginner-friendly
👩🍳 Texture: Silky, glossy, and luscious, with super soft courgettes and a parmesan sauce that coats every strand of pasta.
💃 Perfect For: Busy weeknights, easy summer entertaining, date nights on the sofa, when you have courgettes that need using up!
🍋 Serve With: A simple green salad and fresh bread to mop up the sauce (like this cheesy chili oil focaccia or no-knead rosemary parmesan bread). Add cooked chicken, prawns, butter beans, chickpeas, or crispy bacon for more protein.
An Easy, Lemony Twist on Spaghetti alla Nerano
Courgettes – or zucchini – can get a bit of a bad rap for being underwhelming or bland. But the secret to getting the best out of them is all in the cooking. Give them enough time to become soft, sweet, and almost melting, and they transform into a gorgeously silky base for a pasta sauce.
This recipe is a twist on spaghetti alla Nerano, the dish Stanley Tucci famously fell in love with on his wonderful TV show, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy. In the classic version, the zucchini rounds are fried in lots of oil, usually a day in advance. My version saves time AND skips the deep-frying, but still delivers all that beautiful, delicate flavour. It’s an easier, lighter, weeknight-friendly twist on the classic.
The beauty of this pasta is in its simplicity. The melting courgettes combine wonderfully with parmesan and pasta water to create a luscious, silky sauce, while lemon, chilli and fresh herbs keep things bright, zingy, and summery.
I use a very similar flavor base in this one pot green goddess lasagna if you’re after a slightly different twist.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Courgettes (zucchini). You’ll be surprised how much the courgettes will cook down in the pan – it will seem like A LOT, but just be patient.
- Lemon. The recipe uses zest and juice, so ideally you’ll need a fresh lemon. If not, bottled lemon juice is an ok substitute, but it won’t be quite the same. Zest your lemon before you juice it.
- Parmesan. You could use pecorino or Grana Padano in its place if you like.
- Chilli flakes. I love the hint of spice these bring to the pasta (and they pair wonderfully with courgettes), but you can skip them if you’re worried about heat, or cooking for kids.
- Pasta. I’m using fresh fettuccine, but you can use any shape you have to hand. Spaghetti, linguine, rigatoni, orecchiette or penne work well. well.
How to Make Lemony Courgette Pasta
This is a step-by-step photo overview of how to make the pasta – the full recipe with ingredient quantities is at the bottom of the page for you.
- Add your sliced courgettes, garlic, chilli flakes and salt to a high-sided pan with olive oil.
- Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the courgettes have become super soft and are almost breaking down.
- Cook your pasta until al dente, then transfer it straight into the pan with the courgettes, along with a little pasta cooking water.
- Toss through the courgettes, then scatter over grated parmesan, basil, mint, lemon zest and juice.
- Toss again to combine into a smooth, silky sauce.
- Divide between plates, scatter over more parmesan, basil and mint, then serve.
Kate’s Tips for a Silky Courgette Sauce
- Use a wide pan. Courgettes release lots of liquid as they cook, so a wide, shallow pan helps it evaporate, leaving you with soft, jammy courgettes quickly.
- Save your pasta water. I like to directly transfer the cooked pasta from the pot into the courgette pan – but if you drain your pasta, scoop out at least a full mug first. You may end up needing more water than you’d expect to create that gorgeous, glossy sauce.
- Keep the finished pasta more saucy than you’d think. Pasta continues to absorb liquid as it sits – so keep it looser in the pan than you’d ideally like on your plate. That way, by the time it hits your plate, it should be perfect.
Courgette Pasta FAQs
It’s best served right away, but there are things you can do to get ahead if you like.
You can cook down the courgettes up to three days in advance, refrigerate them, then heat on the stovetop and add your cooked pasta when you’re ready to serve.
If you do have leftovers, add a splash (a tablespoon or two) of water to the pasta when you reheat it (either in the microwave or on the stovetop) to help the sauce loosen up.
I love serving the pasta with fresh bread to help mop up all the sauce – no knead cheesy chili oil focaccia or rosemary parmesan bread are great choices. Or, pair it with a simple arugula salad (I love arugula drizzled with a little olive oil and some shaved parmesan).
You can toss through cooked chicken, shrimp, bacon, or chorizo, or drained butter beans or chickpeas when you toss the pasta through the sauce.
The pan was probably a bit crowded, or they needed a little longer to cook and release their water. I’ve also found very large courgettes tend to be a lot more watery than smaller ones.
Like this recipe? Here are more quick pasta ideas you might enjoy
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day 😊.
Silky Lemon Courgette Pasta (No Cream)
Ingredients
Method
- Cook the courgettes.Thinly slice your zucchini and garlic cloves, then set a wide, high-sided skillet or frying pan over medium-low heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the sliced zucchini, 1 teaspoon salt, sliced garlic, and 1 teaspoon chilli flakes.Cook, stirring occasionally, until the courgettes are super soft and starting to break down. This will take about 15 minutes.
- Cook your pasta.You can do this while the courgettes cook. Set a large pot of water over high heat, add a big pinch of salt, then bring to a boil. Once boiling, add your pasta and cook it according to the packet instructions. Depending on the pasta you use, this will take around 8 to 10 minutes. If you drain your pasta, remember to scoop out at least 1 cup of cooking water before you do.
- Toss the pasta with the courgettes.Once your pasta is al dente (cooked, with a little bite to it), use tongs or a slotted spoon to transfer it directly into the pan with the courgettes, along with ½ cup of the pasta cooking water. Toss the pasta through the courgettes.
- Create the sauce.Scatter the grated parmesan, half the basil and mint, and the lemon zest on top. Leave it for 30 seconds so the parmesan can start to melt into the sauce, then toss vigorously to create a silky, luxurious sauce.Add more pasta water, a splash at a time, if needed, to make your glossy sauce.
- Finish and serve.Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, the fish sauce if you're using it, and a good grind of black pepper, then toss again. Taste, then add a little more lemon or salt as needed.Divide the pasta between plates and finish with the remaining herbs, more parmesan, and another good grind of black pepper. Serve right away.
Wondering if you could give an estimate of zucchini weight used. “4 zucchini” could be a very wide range. Especially if you saw the size of the ones I just got from my MIL😂😂😂. Love your recipes and thank you so much!
Hi Joey, you’re so right 😅 I’ve updated the recipe with an approximate weight – it’s a lot but they cook down significantly as the water evaporates xx
Amazed at how delicious and easy this dish is. Now the garden is pumping out the zuc’s using a kilo at a time is perfect! Thank you!
Anyone tried freezing just the sauce component of this dish, adding pasta when ready to eat?