A quick yet elegant pasta dish with zucchini and a creamy and lemony goat cheese sauce.
Pasta is not something I would necessarily make for guests. I make pasta at least once a week for the family, but I rarely purposely make it when somebody comes for dinner. We love pasta and everything, I have rarely eaten a pasta dish that I didn’t like, but normally I think that serving pasta to guests is too simple, when entertaining I feel the need of putting a bit more effort into my cooking, a way of honoring the guests, I suppose.
And yet this pasta dish is an exception, it is something I’ve treated guests with several times already and it has been a hit every time. A perfect dish for an easy evening with friends in summer, preferably eaten in the garden when the weather allows it, using zucchini, which are abundant at the moment, lemon juice to make it refreshing and fit for the warm weather and goat cheese, goat Gouda to be precise, which makes the meal a bit fancier than it would otherwise be. A nice green salad on the side and a bottle of good white wine, and trust me, you won’t need anything else. Well, maybe just a dessert after the meal. 🙂
I make this dish with goat Gouda, which is definitely my favorite kind of Gouda. In comparison to regular Gouda, goat Gouda is completely white, it has the same shape as normal but the taste is different. It is a bit more expensive than regular Gouda, that is why I don’t use it often in cooking, I prefer to enjoy it as it is with some bread or as part of a larger cheese platter. It tastes amazing with some fig marmalade on top or drizzled with a little honey.
I generally like goat or sheep cheese more than normal cheese, their taste is more intense than the taste of cow cheese, but in case you are not familiar with goat cheese and are afraid that its flavor might be too sharp, don’t worry, goat Gouda is quite mild compared to other goat cheese varieties. That makes it a perfect choice for first time taster. You could replace it with regular Gouda or cheddar, I suppose, the dish will still taste good, but then you will only have a regular mac and cheese with zucchini and lemon flavor and kind of miss the point of this particular pasta dish, which is the goat Gouda flavor.
Goat Gouda has become quite common in Germany during the last years, so there will be no problem buying it just about anywhere. I am not sure how common that is elsewhere in the world, but if you can get it, do it, you will not regret it, it is absolutely amazing.
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Serves: 4
- 2 medium zucchini (I used one green and one yellow, but it doesn't really matter)
- 200 ml/ about 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 garlic cloves
- 400 g/ 14 oz spaghetti
- 1 large lemon
- 100 ml/ about ½ cup vegetable broth
- 200 g/ 7 oz goat Gouda
- 3-4 sprigs thyme
- salt and pepper
- Cut the zucchini into long strips using a potato peeler. If you have a spiralizer, you could use that, I am sure the dish will look even better that way.
- In a large bowl, mix together the heavy cream and the grated garlic cloves. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place the zucchini stripes in the cream and leave to marinate for about 20 – 30 minutes or until you prepare the rest of the dish.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the spaghetti according to the packet's instructions.
- In meantime grate the goat Gouda and chop the thyme leaves very finely. Make the salad, if you are having any.
- Drain the spaghetti and give them back to the pot. Add the zucchini and the cream, about ¾ of the lemon juice and the vegetable broth. Stir well but very gently, taking care not to break the zucchini stripes too much (I find that using two forks works best in this case). Heat everything together, then add the cheese and the thyme. Stir again to mix everything together. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper and more lemon juice if necessary.
- Serve immediately with a green salad.
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Others you might like:
Asparagus Chicken Pasta Casserole
Pasta with Eggplant Tomato Sauce
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19 comments
Such a comforting and satisfying meal, Adina.
Thank you, Angie.
I’ve had goat cheese and gouda, but never goat gouda. I’ll have to keep an eye out for it. I regularly make pasta dishes for hubby and I and this one looks like something that we’d love. The zucchini in there is so perfect for Summer, kinda lightens up the dish a bit and I’ve been really enjoying zucchini lately. I bet that it’s super creamy too with the cream and cheese. No doubt that any guest would love this recipe, especially with a nice bottle of vino and good conversation 🙂
Goat gouda is a great cheese, I hope you can find it. It looks just like the regular one, but in white. And it tastes amazing.
This sounds and looks so good, the kind of meal I could eat everyday. Of course my waistline would show it but it would be fun and delicious!
Dear Adina, what a beautiful dish this is. I must confess I have never tried goat gouda. And so now I must. It sounds perfect for my family of boys who might turn up their nose at the sharpness of regular goat cheese. I love the timing of your recipe. My husband just came in the door with a large zucchini from the garden- our first of the season! Thanks for the beautiful and delicious recipe, I look forward to trying it soon. Have a wonderful week!
Yes to goat Gouda, zucchini, and this good looking, yummy pasta! And also yes to cheese with jams and honey! 🙂
This pasta dish is definitely guest worthy! I love your zucchini series….My first zucchini is almost ready. Then it just goes crazy and I try to find as many zucchini recipes as possible to use them all up!
We are on the same zucchini wavelength! Which is good, since the zucchini storm is a-comin’ – this looks SO good!!
This is definitely my type of pasta!! Love the fresh zucchini and I’ll take ALL the goat cheese please!!! So YUM! Cheers!
you’ve really classed up spaghetti with this one, adina! what a glorious sauce. 🙂
Zucchini gives such a nice texture and crunch to every dish. And I can imagine all the awesome flavors and textures when it is paired with spaghetti and goat cheese. I will have to try this. YUMMY!
I totally understand what you mean with serving pasta for guests. I also feel sometimes it’s too simple, but actually it’s probably the only type of food you just can never go wrong with, because everybody loooooves pasta.
This one looks absolutely beautiful too, I love you used yellow and green zucchinis, they look awesome here! 🙂
I love pasta but add in goats cheese and I am SO there! This looks gorgeous! Love the zucchini too!
Spaghetti any day for me. This looks delicious! I’d not thought of using goat cheese – great idea!
If goat cheese is added I will always be there. What a summer bountiful dish.
Can I please come for dinner in the garden and have this gorgeous spaghetti? I’ll bring the wine! This sounds so amazing – simple but elegant and definitely fit for company. We love goat cheese but I’ve never tried goat Gouda – gonna have to track some down because it sounds delicious!
I’ve never had goat cheese on pasta dish before. I have to try that. I find goat cheese a bit strong for me ,but I can see it works well on pasta
What a classy pasta dish! I find goat cheese a little strong but goat gouda sounds like a delicious more mellow cheese great for everyone’s tastes. Looove the bright addition of lemon and thyme – perfect for summer!