Saturday's dinner: Kitchen Sink Pasta

I think most people are familiar with the phrase, "everything but the kitchen sink."  According to knowyourphrase.com, it means, "including nearly everything possible."  On Saturday evening, I decided to make my Kitchen Sink Pasta.

True to the phrase, this dish includes nearly everything possible in my refrigerator.  There is no set recipe to follow for this dish. Add veggies that you enjoy and omit what you don't care for.  As I've noted before, my CSA has had quite a bit of zucchini and green beans this year. I've been regularly using these two vegetables in my pasta dishes, since they assume the flavor of garlic and basil quite nicely. The texture of these two veggies also compliment pasta cooked al dente.

This evening, I cooked 4 cups of whole wheat organic penne.  While the pasta was cooking (it takes 11 minutes), I did a quick steam of my green beans and drained them in a colander with cold water to stop them from over cooking.  While the green beans were steaming, I began heating up some olive oil with garlic and basil in a large saute pan. I cut some broccoli into small florets, along with some bits of kale and began cooking them in the garlic and olive oil.

While the broccoli was cooking, I chopped up zucchini and salted it in a colander. Once the broccoli was done cooking, I removed it from the pan and set aside. I then added the green beans to the large pan and sauteed in the garlic/basil/olive oil mixture.  Once cooked, I pulled the green beans out and set aside.  Around this time, the pasta was done, so I reserved 1 cup of the pasta water and drained the rest.

The zucchini is still sitting in its colander, so I shook it off and added it to the now vacant saute pan. I made sure to cook the zucchini on low, since this veggie can go from under cooked to over cooked in a blink of an eye.  I also began cutting cherry tomatoes in half and adding them to the zucchini.  I gave these veggies about 6 or 7 minutes to warm throughout.

Now that the zucchini was done cooking, I added all of the veggies to one bowl. Are you keeping track of how many vegetables are in this dish?  We have: green beans, broccoli, kale, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes.  I oiled the bottom of two oven-safe pans, and added the pasta and veggies to both. I gave them both a good stir to get all of the ingredients throughout the dishes.  I also took some cut up mozzarella (you can use shredded) and added it.  To top it off, I added my signature carbonara (scramble two eggs with pecorino cheese) by pouring it over the dishes and mixing well. You can omit the eggs if you would like to keep it vegetarian.  I also added the reserved pasta water to prevent the pasta from drying out in the oven.

Cover and cook for 20 - 25 minutes in an oven heated to 375 degrees.  When ready to enjoy, top with your favorite pesto or cheese.  Leftovers are better the 2nd day, as the flavors meld even more.


Mind you, I was not making a small amount just for the mister and me.  This dinner will serve 6 - 10 people, depending upon their appetite level.  There is no way that the two of us could enjoy all of this pasta and veggie goodness in one sitting!

Just out of the oven.

A close up of the kitchen sink pasta.