This summer vegetable spaghetti dinner is the perfect way to use up all those summer veggies! The base is spaghetti, zucchini, summer squash, corn and tomatoes and it’s all topped with a garlic lemon sauce, fresh basil and creamy burrata. Try my lobster scampi with cheese tortellini for your next pasta fix.

If you ask me, there’s nothing worse than a heavy meal on a hot day.

I’m talking something like a giant bowl of chicken fettuccine alfredo with its thick, filling sauce on a day where you think your skin is going to catch fire if you even consider going into the sun. I can’t handle it.

Pasta isn’t something that I usually crave, but when I do it is an intense craving. That happened recently, on one of our ridiculously hot and humid days this summer.

We had a few options of pasta in the house, but I wanted to do the bare pasta minimum to satisfy my craving – queue the thin spaghetti.

This recipe is a great way to use up extra veggies

I also wanted to use up some (if not all) of the vegetables we had lying around the house. Zucchini, summer squash, and tomatoes were all looking for their purpose in life, and I helped them fulfill their dinner destiny.

And I must say, I nailed it.

Why summer vegetable spaghetti is so, so good

This light, savory dinner dish is:

vegetarian
easily made vegan (by using vegan butter and omitting the burrata)
low calorie (as far as dinners go)
packed with vitamin C and calcium (thanks to that burrata)

Originally, I was going to add freshly grated Parmesan cheese to this, and then I spotted the container of burrata in the fridge and instantly knew it would be a better addition.

I have to admit, I’m totally channeling my inner Lauren from Hunger Thirst Play with this recipe – I didn’t even realize it until I was on her site looking for something else and I came across her late summer veggie pesto pasta.

Definitely two different dishes, but they have a similar vibe. Late summer bleeding into fall seems to give everything that warm glow.

She’s basically the queen of buratta – just peruse her recipe archives if you don’t believe me.

Don’t forget the fresh basil

And we can’t forget the fresh basil. There’s nothing like fresh basil. The aroma, the taste, and it adds the perfect amount of bright green color to this dish. It goes perfectly with the light garlic lemon sauce that coats the pasta.

… annnnnnd now I’m hungry. I’m gonna go make more – who wants some?