Our 20 Best Summer Pastas

Pasta with Pecorino-Zucchini Sauce and Basil

This velvety sauce of pureed zucchini comes from Italy’s Amalfi Coast, where we were served some of the most beautiful pasta dishes of our lives—elegantly simple, all about fresh ingredients.

By Rose HattabaughFebruary 1, 2023

Calabrian-Style Tomato and Sweet Pepper Sauce with Pasta

This recipe was inspired by a stewy mélange of cherry tomatoes, garlic, sweet-spicy peppers and extra-virgin olive oil that was served with flatbread at Ristorante Barbieri in Calabria. To make a sauce for pasta, we combine mini sweet peppers (usually

By Courtney HillApril 21, 2025

Campanelle Pasta with Sweet Corn, Tomatoes and Basil

This summery campanelle utilizes sweet corn two ways to infuse the noodles with creamy, grassy sweetness.

By Courtney HillOctober 15, 2019

Pasta with Cherry Tomato Sauce and Pistachios

Cooking whole cherry tomatoes in olive oil helps release their juices and melt them into a silky sauce. With chopped pistachios added for crunch, this pasta dish is bright and satisfying. If you like, season with fresh mint and grated lemon zest at th

Rigatoni with Cherry Tomatoes and Anchovies

At Osteria ai Promessi Sposi in Venice, Italy, chef Claudio Furlanis taught us how to make a dish of his own creation—pasta tossed with cherry tomatoes, sautéed onion and anchovies. Furlanis briefly roasted the tomatoes to render them soft and juicy a

By Diane UngerJanuary 26, 2022

Ziti with Zucchini, Basil and Walnut Pesto

Raw zucchini makes a fresh, clean and subtly sweet base for intense garlic, basil, and peppers.

By Rose HattabaughAugust 9, 2021

Bucatini with Sweet Corn and Scallions

Peak-season fresh corn gives this creamy-yet-light pasta dish a beautiful vegetal grassiness.

Farfalle with Zucchini, Pecorino and Basil

This buttery dish features pan-fried zucchini bites and a generous heap of Pecorino romano, plus pistachios for a delightful crunch!

By Dimitri DemopolousApril 25, 2023

Spaghetti with Shrimp, Tomatoes and White Wine

In Venice, Italy, cookbook author Marika Contaldo Seguso taught us to make a regional classic, scampi alla busara. Large, sweet, shell-on prawns are bathed in a sauce made with fresh tomatoes and flavored with a splash of white wine, smashed garlic cl

By Rose HattabaughJune 3, 2022

Gemelli with Fresh Tomato-Almond Pesto and Croutons (Sicilian Trapanese Pesto)

Sicily's fresh, Sunday dinner tomato sauce makes the perfect summery weeknight meal.

By Courtney HillDecember 10, 2018

Pasta with Ricotta, Tomatoes and Herbs

The best summer pasta is all about tossing, and garden-fresh tomatoes; the sauce requires no cooking at all.

By Diane UngerApril 4, 2022

Pasta with Tomatoes, Sweet Corn and Avocados

This colorful pasta salad is best made with in-season tomatoes and sweet, fresh corn. In non-summer months, however, frozen corn works well. The kernels are dropped into the pasta during the final minutes of boiling and cooked only briefly so they ret

By Dimitri DemopolousOctober 17, 2023

Spaghetti Puttanesca

We think of puttanesca as a saucy dish built on anchovies. But in Naples, where it originates, two varieties of briny olives and pungent capers, not anchovies, give the dish bold savoriness that balances the sweetness of the tomatoes. We got a lesson

By Diane UngerFebruary 4, 2019

Penne Carbonara with Zucchini

Traditionally made with eggs, cured pork, hard cheese and plenty of pepper, carbonara is classic Italian comfort fare. For a lighter, equally delicious version, we’ve replaced the pancetta or guanciale typically used with zucchini (or yellow summer sq

By Malcolm JacksonOctober 17, 2023

Pesto alla Genovese

We learned to make pesto alla Genovese in its birthplace—Genoa, Italy. It traditionally is made in a mortar and pestle of nothing more than basil, pine nuts, cheese, garlic, salt and olive oil, emphasis on the basil. We use a food processor for conven

By Courtney HillAugust 6, 2018

Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes, Capers and Herbs

The tiny Italian island of Pantelleria off the coast of Sicily is the home of pesto pantesco, a puree of fruity olive oil, fresh tomatoes, leafy herbs, briny capers and pungent garlic. For a quick, summery dinner, we deconstructed the pesto and create

By Elizabeth MindreauApril 6, 2021

Gemelli with Fresh Tomato-Almond Pesto and Croutons (Sicilian Trapanese Pesto)

Sicily's fresh, Sunday dinner tomato sauce makes the perfect summery weeknight meal.

By Courtney HillDecember 10, 2018

Pasta Salad with Charred Corn and Cilantro

Creamy-rich yet bright and fresh, this pasta salad takes inspiration from Mexican esquites, corn that typically is grilled or roasted and finished with a mixture of herbs, lime, chili and cheese. We simmer corn cobs in the water that’s later used for

By Dimitri DemopolousOctober 17, 2023

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio with Fresh Tomatoes

Italy’s perfect pasta—cheap, easy, essentially olive oil and pasta—gets an added flavor boost from tomatoes and basil.

By Rose HattabaughDecember 7, 2021

Zucchini Carbonara

Is it possible to get a vegetarian carbonara that’s still meaty and rich? Yes—with the added benefit of garden freshness.

By Rose HattabaughJune 22, 2023