This week I have been slowly cleaning out our garden, harvesting what is left of summer and preparing for winter vegetables and herbs. Copious amounts of basil, mint and the last of the squash blossoms were the inspiration behind this zucchini pasta with preserved lemon herb sauce + squash blossoms + halloumi.
I recently ordered a spiralizer from my friend Eleni, who is the creative behind thefoodiecorner.gr and who also happens to sell hard to come by kitchen appliances here in Greece. I absolutely love zucchini noodles (a.k.a. zoodles) when combined with regular pasta, specifically bucatini, so I could not have been more grateful to finally have the chance to zoodle here on the island!
The sauce for this pasta dish is absolutely incredible and it just happens to be vegan! I adapted it from a recipe from Half Baked Harvest and made some changes to result in a nut-free and dairy-free version. It combines basil and mint from the garden, avocado, tahini, garlic, olive oil, pasta water, and my personal favorite secret ingredient, preserved lemon paste from New York Shuk. I have had the great honor of getting to know the owner’s of New York Shuk (a spice company from the US) and I am currently working on a very exciting project with them (more on this to come soon)! When I dreamt up this pasta recipe I knew that I wanted to incorporate some brightness and that is exactly what their preserved lemon paste does, but it also brings along with it a salty umami that is pure perfection!
The crowning glory of this pasta dish is, of course, the halloumi and squash blossoms. Both get sauteed in olive oil just before serving – the halloumi becomes golden and crisp and is pretty much one of the greatest cheeses on earth, in my humble opinion, though many would agree ;) Squash blossoms hold such a special place in our heart and have been the greatest joy of our little garden all summer and this pasta dish was the perfect way to relish them one last time.
Bright & herbaceous, this zucchini pasta with preserved lemon herb sauce + squash blossoms + halloumi has become one of our all-time favorite meals, I could eat it over and over again! The amazing thing is that the whole meal is vegan, minus the halloumi, which could easily be replaced with some salty crispy tofu ;)
ZUCCHINI PASTA WITH PRESERVED LEMON HERB SAUCE + SQUASH BLOSSOMS + HALLOUMI
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 500g bucatini pasta
- 2–3 zucchini spiralized using a veggie spiralizer
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1 large clove of garlic
- 1 avocado
- 3 tbsp preserved lemon paste (or substitute with lemon juice)
- 1 cup fresh basil (packed)
- 1/2 cup fresh mint
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp honey (or other sweetener of your choice)
- salt + pepper to taste
- 225g (8 oz) halloumi cheese, sliced (omit if vegan)
- 20 squash blossoms
- 1 cup reserved pasta water
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the bucatini according to package directions (11-13 minutes). Just before draining, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta and add the spiralized zucchini along with the pasta in the pot, cover pot to allow zoodles to steam.
- In a food processor or high powered blender, combine the tahini, garlic, avocado, preserved lemon paste (or lemon juice), basil, mint, honey and olive oil. Blend until it starts to resemble pesto, adding enough pasta water to thin until you have a sauce like consistency. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
- Pour the preserved lemon herb sauce over the hot pasta & zoodles and toss well to combine.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Once hot, add the squash blossoms to the pan and sauté until they are just wilted. Place the squash blossoms on a plate and reserve for garnish.
- In the same pan, add a bit more olive oil if needed, add the halloumi slices and cook for 1-2 minutes per side or until lightly golden.
- Divide the warm pasta among bowls or plates. Top with the halloumi cheese, and squash blossoms. ENJOY!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
Oh wow, Bella! This sounds like heaven!! I have a few squash blossoms and I just passed up some zucchini! 😐 dang! I’ll have to go back. This looks fabulous and like a dish I would love so much! It’s gorgeous and so creative. Much love ♥️♥️♥️😘😘😘😘
You will absolutely LOVE this dish Michelle! And you can use that Kitchenaid attachment to spiralize the zucchini! Love you back!
This is absolutely stunning! The colors, flavors- everything. I have grown to love preserved lemon while living in Morocco and I adore the fresh way you’ve used it here. I need to get my hands on a spiralizer as well! x
Thank you SO much Ruby! Yes, preserved lemon has really grown on us as well! It adds such a brightness to everything! Having a spiralizer even if it is just for zucchini noodles is totally worth it!
Halloumi is one of my favorite cheeses, but I have never used it to top off zucchini pasta. Such a great recipe Bella! And your photos.. they are always stunning.
Halloumi is seriously one of the best cheeses! And there isn’t a dish I have not loved it with! Thank you so much Aysegul <3
ALL i can say to this post and recipe is YYUUUMMMM!!!!!!!!!
Thank you!
these photos are just STUNNING bella!!!
aw…thank you so much!
the Styling and the Composition and the Lighting and the Post-Processing completely sold us on making this dish!!
you are so so kind! thank you!
my family’s FAVORITE part of your ZUCCHINI PASTA WITH PRESERVED LEMON HERB SAUCE + SQUASH BLOSSOMS + HALLOUMI creation was the squash blossoms, they sauteed up PERFECT in the olive oil, their amazing flavor came across brilliantly!!!
oh yay! that makes me so happy! glad you all enjoyed it so much!
Yeshua Hach Mischia YHWH has DEFINITELY gifted you with these incredible recipe inspirations, all i can say is they are MOST HIGH Genius Savant status, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Hilia Euxaristo bella!!
This looks BEAUTIFUL! I wish we had zucchini blossoms readily available! (PS love the pink!)
thank you SO very much Sonja! This dish would be great even without the squash blossoms, but let me tell you, if you guys can pull off a small garden next spring, plant some squash and you will have SO many blossoms with almost no effort!
What a beautiful meal to send off the growing season! I need to clean up my garden as well, but sadly, I don’t think my bounty will be anything like yours – we’ve had endless rain. This meal is an inspiration!
Thank you Elizabeth! We cleaned out our garden just in the nick of time, because we have had super high winds and crazy rain for 5 days now! I am so happy to have inspired you <3
Bella, I’m not a huge fan of a plate of zoodles so this idea of using both noodles and zoodles is brilliant! I love it! I’m still on a summer vegetable kick (I traveled so much this summer I wasn’t able to shop at the farmers’ market or cook) and will pick up some zucchini this week!
I am exactly the same, when combined with noodles, I adore zoodles! You are going to love this so much! Thanks for the love <3
It is pretty common in Greece to cook with zucchini flowers and this recipe looks delicious! It complements the flavor of lemon and halloumi cheese very well!
Yes it is! And the zucchini flowers are probably my favorite part!