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We don’t use white flour pasta too often and this is why at our house, “regular” pasta is a treat, and everyone feels sad for my husband.*

I’m not into whole wheat pasta that much, either, so when I noticed gluten free pastas on the shelf, I got dorkily excited and bought way too much. Are we gluten-free? Nooooo. No one in my family has any sort of allergy, there’s no celiac, none of that. But gluten-free pastas are usually made from ingredients that do actually provide nutritional value, and I’m all about that. I also dig the texture way more, depending on the variety, finding it actually closer to white pasta than whole wheat. Mysteries of life, you guys. I fell in love with this combination of flavors from Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook “Plenty” a couple years back and started craving it as soon as the crispness bowed out of the air, replaced by an early humidity and late sunset. It sounds weird, maybe: fried zucchini, capers, fresh basil, lemon, fresh mozzarella, edamame? I mean, that’s not your go-to pasta combo at the casino pasta station, right? But you know what? It damn well should be! I don’t know what it is or how Ottolenghi does it, but the briny capers are so striking, yet understated, against the beautifully browned zucchini. As for lemon and basil, obviously – we love those always. Fresh mozzarella? So beautiful with the lemon, so creamy and perfect a canvas against the capers! And the fresh, tender nuttiness of the edamame is just right paired with the herbaceous fresh basil. There’s so much flavor, but none overwhelms the other. We made this for dinner and ate it right away, but O also ate it for lunch and said it was just as good (if not better?) after a day or two. It’s the sort of dish you can make ahead and serve for an elegant summer dinner party when you want to impress everyone but be all like super chill the whole party, like “This? Like it’s hard?” I mean, I’m assuming that’s what everyone else does because they are all super chill when they throw a party and me, I’m all like EVERYONE GET THE FRICK OUT OF THE KITCHEN RIGHT NOW BEFORE I STAB YOU. Hosting intensity, this one. I used Ronzoni Gluten Free® Penne for this recipe and fell. in. love. Ronzoni sent me a ton of pasta to share my thoughts with you (and by a ton, I mean literally 50 pounds. No, you can’t have any), and my thoughts are – in all honesty – this stuff is amazing. It’s by far the closest gluten-free sub for white pasta I’ve found, and includes corn, rice, and quinoa flour (no guilt there, like nada). It’s super affordable, too, unlike most gluten-free pastas! They also make it in a dedicated gluten-free factory, so if you are cooking for an allergy, you can rest easy. This recipe is based on Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe in “Plenty”, but I changed a few things. First off, I reduced the basil to only 1 cup (from 2), because um, I don’t have a huge basil plant/I’m not a millionaire. I also added garlic, because GARLIC.

Cheryl Malik

In addition to being a certified health coach, certified yoga instructor, and mom of 3, Cheryl is also the recipe developer, editor-in-chief, food photographer, and passionate foodie behind 40 Aprons. Having spent the last 10+ years as a food blogger, she's become known for her flavorful recipes, detailed instructions, gorgeous photography, and down-to-earth approach to food and cooking in general.