Creamy Zucchini and Basil Sauce for Pasta or Rice

Inspired by French Provencçal cuisine, this creamy zucchini and basil sauce is perfect for pasta: pan-fried zucchini, basil leaves, and Greek yogurt (or cream cheese, goat cheese, crème fraîche) for a very smooth texture and flavorful sauce.

What’s the best sauce to serve with pasta and rice?

The French love Italian Pasta a la bolognese or simply adding pesto and parmesan. But to change from ketchup or ready-made sauces, I suggest this super healthy sauce made with a South France Provencal touch.
Zucchini is first sautéed in a pan with olive oil, onion, and garlic. No herbes de Provence, as I use basil later in the recipe.

This sauce is very creamy and silky, perfect for eating with pasta, gnocchi, or rice.

How to make this zucchini sauce

Fry zucchini

First, fry the zucchini we do in France a ratatouille. Pour olive oil into a frying pan or casserole dish. When the oil is warm, add minced onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and sauté for a few minutes.
Then add zucchini slices or small cubes. The way you choose to cut zucchini doesn’t matter, as you will mix it anyway. The only thing is that the bigger the pieces, the longer the cooking time will be. As we want here a quick recipe, I suggest small cubes.

Sauté zucchini on medium-high heat. Zucchini will get a nice sautéed color and good taste. But not too much because olive oil does not like too high temperatures.
Zucchini is cooked as soon as it becomes tender. Check with the tip of a knife.

Mix with herbs and cream

Place zucchini in a blender. Then, what you need to do is to add herbs and a creamy ingredient and blend.
I choose fresh basil and French Fromage blanc (a kind of Greek yogurt), but there are many variations that I’ll explain below.

Add herbs: I suggest fresh basil leaves in this recipe because it brings a lot of lightness and freshness, but if you don’t have any, you can substitute another herb you love, for instance, chives, parsley, or coriander.
Another option is to add herbes de Provence or dried thyme. If so, it’s better to add dried herbs in the pan when you fry zucchini than when mixing.

Add a creamy ingredient: The first time I prepared this recipe, I used French Fromage blanc, which is almost similar to Greek yogurt, less thick, though. I thought it was lighter than ou traditional crème fraîche.
But I could use cream, Greek yogurt, and cream cheese. And if you want an aromatic sauce, why not a fresh goat cheese? For a vegan version, choose a plant-based yogurt with a neutral taste.

I’ve taken several photos to show you the steps of the recipe. I hope that this will be of any help.

Other French ways to cook zucchini

Creamy Zucchini and Basil Sauce for Pasta or Rice

Creamy Zucchini and Basil Sauce for Pasta or Rice

Inspired by French Provencçal cuisine, this creamy and flavorful sauce is prepared with pan-fried zucchini and fresh basil leaves. And for the creaminess, you can replace Greek yogurt with cream cheese, crème fraîche, or goat cheese.
3.80 de 5 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Cuisine French
Servings 1 bowl

Equipment

  • 1 Blender

Ingredients
 
 

  • 2 zucchini
  • 1 onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 100 gr yoghurt Greek yogurt or cream cheese, goat cheese, cream
  • 1 stalk basil fresh 15 to 20 leaves
  • salt
  • pepper freshly grounded

Instructions
 

Sauté zucchini

  • Heat the olive oil in a skillet.
  • Rinse the zucchinis and trim the ends. Peel and chop the onion and garlic. The smaller the pieces, the faster it cooks.
  • Add zucchini, onion, and garlic in the pan. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 15 minutes over medium heat.

Mix the sauce

  • As soon as the zucchini is tender, put it in the blender with the basil leaves and Greek yogurt.
    Ideally start by adding half of the quantity of Greek yogurt, mix and little by little add the rest until you get the texture you like.
  • Taste, and adjust the seasoning if necessary (more basil, salt or pepper).

Notes

Serve warm or hot with pasta, rice, gnocchi, or even fish or poultry.
Did you make this recipe? I want to see!Tag @zestoffrance on any social media or leave a rating & comment!

Bon appétit !

3.80 from 5 votes (5 ratings without comment)

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