This aromatic sauteed zucchini with pesto recipe is an easy-to-make and delicious side dish or light meal.
Another summer, another glut of vegetables. These zucchini with pesto are such a wonderful recipe to use many of those extra veggies.
I didn't even like these veggies that much in my childhood and youth – the only recipe I really liked then was this one for easy pan-fried zucchini in batter - but I do love them now.
When confronted with so many of them every summer, one has to learn to cook them properly, and once you have a few good recipes, you learn to love them, and then there is no stopping: a simple soup, elegant sauteed zucchini with onions, beef and zucchini casserole, this amazing savory zucchini slice and so on.
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Recipe ingredients
Zucchini: Choose medium ones. Thicker and larger ones are fine as well, but in this case, please remove the seeds. Too many seeds are not nice to eat; they are rather tasteless and will make the dish soggy.
Pesto: You can use homemade pesto of any kind; I often use wild garlic pesto because I make and freeze it every spring. But basil pesto, lemon balm pesto, or any other you like is great.
- If you buy it, choose a good-quality brand. Don't go for the cheapest version; you will definitely notice.
Sun-dried tomatoes in oil: I used julienne sun-dried tomatoes in oil. If you only have halves, you will need about 4-5 halves, depending on their size. Chop the tomatoes in both cases.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make pesto zucchini?
- Step #1: Slice the zucchini in half-moons and add them to the hot skillet.
- Step #2: Pan-fry them for 5-6 minutes, shaking the pan often.
- Step #3: Add pesto and chopped tomatoes to the pan. Stir well but carefully for 1 minute. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper and add the fresh chopped herbs.
Good to know!
If you serve this as a side dish, the quantities indicated will serve four people. I often serve it with Cast-Iron Skillet Chicken Breast.
If you decide to go super healthy today and have it as a main meal with some bread, pasta, or polenta on the side, this recipe will only serve two people.
If you wish to increase the quantities, I recommend using two large pans or pan-frying the vegetables in two batches. Otherwise, it will become difficult. The slices will be too many for just one pan, and they will not fry properly either.
What goes well with this dish?
Serve as a main dish with crusty fresh bread on the side, on a bed of creamy basic polenta, mix them with pasta, or have them with rice, bulgur, or couscous.
Serve as a side dish with:
Do you like this recipe?
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Zucchini with Pesto
Equipment
- Large frying pan or cast-iron skillet, Note 1
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini a total of about 1 lbs/ 450 g
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons pesto
- 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes in oil or about 4-5 sun dried tomatoes in oil halves
- a few sprigs of thyme
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
- fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Halve and slice the zucchini. If using very large zucchini, halve them, remove the seeds with a spoon, quarter, and slice them.2 medium zucchini
- Pan-fry: Heat the oil in a large skillet or non-stick pan. Pan-fry the zucchini for 5-6 minutes, shaking the pan every minute or so to make sure that the zucchini slices get fried on both sides.1 tablespoon olive oil
- Chop tomatoes: In the meantime, remove the excess oil from the tomatoes by patting them lightly with kitchen paper. Chop them.2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- Add the pesto and the chopped tomatoes to the zucchini. Stir well but carefully for about 1 minute.2 tablespoons pesto
- Adjust the taste with salt and pepper and add the fresh chopped herbs.fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper + a few sprigs of thyme + 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
Thao @ In Good Flavor says
Combining zucchini and pesto is such a great idea! I'm loving the combo, and all your serving suggestions sound so good!! Having it with a large chunk of crusty bread sounds wonderful right now as my stomach is growling 🙂
mjskitchen says
Summer squash with pesto has always been a favorite of mine, but I've never added sun-dried tomatoes. Those sounds like such a great addition to an already delicious dish. Growing squash again this year, so can't wait to try this.