Zucchini Pasta

To celebrate school starting, the girls and I spent the day at the swimming pool in a nearby state park. The weather was beautiful. The water wasn't too cold. And the pool wasn't very crowded. The girls were able to go down the water slide as many times as they wanted and my niece finally got comfortable putting her face under water! A great day for everyone.

Great until I got home with a car load of tired and hungry kids with no idea what to fix for dinner. Around here pasta is usually a good idea so I started the water boiling and looked around for something to add to it. I had plenty of zucchini from the garden and a package of baby bellas from the store. Unfortunately, when I opened them, they were a tad bit past their prime. (Blech!) Since the zucchini seemed a little lonely I threw in a can of sliced mushrooms and what little bit of red onion I had left. I topped the pasta with a creamy sauce made from the remnants of a couple of packages of cream cheese that have been floating around in the fridge for too long. (Why is it that my kids can't finish one box before they open the new one? Can someone explain that? ::sigh::) I thinned the cream cheese with a little milk and stirred in a handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Quick. Easy. Delicious. Just the way I like it!


Zucchini Pasta

1 box Mini Farfalle
olive oil
1-2 zucchini, 1/4 inch dice
1/2 red onion, 1/4 inch dice
1 small can sliced mushrooms
1 block cream cheese
1/4-1/2 cup milk, as needed to thin the sauce
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Parsley, for garnish

Prepare pasta as directed on the box.

To a large skillet, add olive oil. When heated, add the red onion, mushrooms and zucchini cubes. Saute until softened, several minutes. Add cream cheese and milk and stir until cheese is melted and the sauce thickens. Add pasta and Parmesan and toss until pasta is coated with sauce. Garnish with parsley if desired.