I have always known that one pot pasta would make a reappearance here eventually. My one pot spaghetti alla puttanesca recipe is the most popular recipe on this site. So good! If you haven’t tried a one pot pasta dish, in general, before – you should!
If you follow me on Instagram, you saw the other day that I found some amazing vegetables at the farmers’ market (I just had to look up where to correctly place the apostrophe in “farmers”). Leeks, zucchini, yellow squash, garlic scapes (!!), radishes, kohlrabi, strawberries… all local! Summer is almost here 🙂
With a whole assortment of gorgeous late spring vegetables, I knew I was going to have to make some kind of salad or pasta dish (or both). I thought back to the one pot pasta puttanesca and realized that the light, mild sauce that forms in one pot pasta dishes would be the perfect vehicle for the delicately-flavored garlic scapes, zucchini and leeks. Figuring that tomatoes might muddle the flavors a little, I skipped on those and instead cut the vegetable broth with white wine, lemon juice, and almond milk, and I toned down the spices a little bit from last time too. So when I say ‘sauce’ I’m still referring to what cooks up in the single pot along with everything else! Easy peasy.
Zucchini and I don’t have the best history with each other, but I think that this method actually cooks it really nicely! The subtle flavors allow the garlic scapes and leeks to shine, as well. I wanted to really quickly talk about my preferred way to prep those two ingredients for this dish, since garlic scapes are weird, and leeks can be very dirty.
(If you can’t get your hands on some garlic scapes then substitute 2 cloves of minced garlic, and toss the garlic with the oil along with the leeks.)
How to clean and prep leeks: Cut off the roots. Slice the leeks into thin discs (it’s OK if they start to fall apart). If any of the outer leaves start to fall off of the trunk as you go, remove them. You want to keep the white and light green parts of the leek; my rule of thumb for when to stop is when you can no longer see visible moisture on the inside when you cut it. Roughly chop the leeks to cut them a bit smaller. Gather them all in a small bowl and fill it to the top with water. Agitate the leeks underwater a bit, drain off most of the water, and repeat one more time. Finally, drain off the water in a colander and you’re done!
How to clean and prep garlic scapes: For garlic scapes, you really just need to give them a good rinse to clean them, and pat them down to dry them off. Cut off the little bulb at the end of each garlic scape, and everything past it. Remove a teeny tiny bit off of the other end as well. Then simply cut it into ~2 inch segments and you’re done!
Zucchini is more common so I’ll skip that one, but here are instructions if you need them. I sincerely hope you’ll try this or my other one pot pasta dish; it’s popular for a reason! It’s easy, has minimal cleanup, and it’s on the table pretty quickly!
One Pot Pasta with Zucchini, Garlic Scapes, and Leeks in a White Wine Lemon Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 leeks white and light green parts (see notes)
- 12 oz whole wheat rigatoni (see notes)
- 1 small bunch garlic scapes (see notes)
- 1 large zucchini cut into quarter moons
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp salt scant (adjust depending on how salty your broth is - mine was not salty)
- pinch ground black pepper
- 1 tsp lemon zest loosely packed
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup white wine of choice
- 1/2 cup plain , unsweetened almond milk
- 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- fresh basil
Instructions
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Heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped leeks (and minced garlic if substituting for the garlic scapes). Stir and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the leeks are somewhat softened.
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Add the pasta, garlic scapes, zucchini, spices, and lemon zest. Pour the lemon juice, white wine, almond milk, and vegetable broth over the top.
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Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Keep partially covered, and stir frequently, cooking until the pasta is done to your liking and the liquid is thickened - about 7-10 minutes.
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Add salt to taste. Serve topped with fresh basil. The sauce will thicken up a little more once cooled.
Recipe Notes
To use white, instead of whole wheat pasta, increase the liquid by about 1 cup (please note that I haven't tested yet with this recipe, but a similar substitution has worked in other recipes). Other pasta shapes should also work. My opinion is that spaghetti/linguine are the best choice, since the more textured pasta shapes can get slightly gummy - they still taste great, though.
If you intend to use this for leftovers then I would recommend adding another small drizzle of olive oil to the cooking liquid, to help keep the pasta from sticking together when it cools.
In the blog post I describe how to clean and prep leeks and garlic scapes if you don't know how.
If you don't have access to garlic scapes, then feel free to substitute 2 tablespoons of minced garlic and add it at the same time as the leeks.
Shared on Healthy Vegan Fridays.
I'm Shannon, the writer and photographer of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. My mission is to create healthy plant-based recipes that anyone would enjoy, using seasonal produce with inspiration from global flavors.
Red says
I added a (large, mild tasting heirloom) tomato in lieu of increasing the liquid for my non-whole wheat pasta (spaghetti). Worked great. I love leeks, never cooked with garlic scapes before.
Deb says
This was incredibly delicious and fresh tasting. Thank you Shannon.
Jen @ Lita's World says
Looks absolutely DELISH!! I can’t wait to make this!!
Sacha says
Tried this tonight (minus wine – didn’t have any! And plus white beans) – I loved it! Glad I found your website 🙂
Nina says
This is a brilliant concoction! We tried out our gluten-free pasta with some trepidation…it worked beautifully! We didn’t have garlic scapes so I just added some garlic to the mix. Sauteed the veg first and used the wine as a reduction while sauteing the veg and then upped the amount of veg broth to compensate. I did what you suggested and added extra cup of veg broth since it wasn’t whole wheat. It definitely made it much soupier and didn’t really thicken up much. Might try with less liquid next time to see if the gf pasta can stand up to it. The whole thing tasted fantastic. Thank you!
Nina says
Update: We added some arrowroot powder (about 1/2 tbsp.) to the leftover sauce (without veg or pasta in it) and cooked it for about 10 minutes. It thickened up beautifully. Good stuff!!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Happy to hear it worked for you with gluten-free pasta! And thank you for the update. The suggestion for extra veg broth was meant for switching from whole wheat to all-purpose wheat pasta, I should have been more clear about that :(. I’m glad that you are a savvy cook and made it work with arrowroot powder, and enjoyed the flavor of the sauce.
Melanie S. says
This looks amazing! I’m not familiar with garlic scapes…where and when can I find them? Are they only found at farmers markets?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Thank you! I have only seen them at farmers’ markets before – they are generally harvested in late string as they are the young shoots that grow out of the top of the garlic plant. They have a texture almost like a green bean and a mild garlic taste. You can substitute 2 cloves of minced garlic and toss it in oil along with the leeks and the pasta will turn out just as tasty 🙂
Daureen says
For this recipe could I used unsweetened soy milk, which is what I usually have on hand.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Yes, that should work just fine! If your soy milk has a strong taste you might want to use a little less and make up the difference with veggie broth.
Daureen says
Thanks so much for your speedy response! This sounds so delish, I can’t wait to try it!
linda says
Approximately how many/much scapes are in a ‘small bunch!?!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Linda, I would estimate that it was about a cup, loosely packed, after chopping. But since garlic scapes have a mild flavor and don’t absorb much liquid you should be able to increase or decrease that amount and still have good results.
Sandra says
Yum!!
Richa says
love your one pot pasta meals. ah i never thought over the apostrophe before 🙂
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I didn’t either until I sat down to write this! =P
Kari @ bite-sized thoughts says
I am a big fan of one pot dishes – and having just moved house and currently having only one pot in the kitchen, that is especially true right now!! This dish looks lovely and I like the use of leeks as that’s a vegetable I tend to forget about.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Thanks 🙂 I’m the same with leeks… at the grocery I usually skip over them in favor of regular onions, but I guess seeing them at the market encouraged me to finally buy some.
Cadry says
Where to put the apostrophe in farmers market is a recurring problem of mine this time of year! The Google Gods disagree on the subject since a case could be made for all of the choices. If it’s a market of farmers, then it’s a farmers market. If it is a market for farmers, it is a farmers’ market. If it’s a market for each particular farmer or including individual farmers, it’s a farmer’s market. Thinking of it that way, farmers market tends to make the most sense to me, but every time I write it I wonder if someone is reading it and thinking that I chose the wrong one! 🙂
Anyway, it sounds like you made a great haul at the farmers, farmers’, farmer’s market! I’m always excited when garlic scapes show up!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Haha! Yeah, that’s totally why I put the disclaimer, so that people knew I at least checked it… I had that same internal semantics debate as you! I ended up just going with the version that Wikipedia was using. Garlic scapes season is short but sweet!
Jo from yummyvege says
This looks great, love the idea of cooking everything in the one pot too.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Thank you!