I know that not everyone wants to use the oven to make dinner in the summer, but if you’re not opposed to the idea, the Turkey Pesto Meatballs and Orecchiette from the Smitten Kitchen Blog are a great way to use up some of that summer squash you bought at the farmer’s market.

Instead of pesto, I use a homemade basil garlic sauce and just add some additional parmesan cheese as I go. I try to make a batches of that a couple of times during the summer, and then freeze it for use later. So it’s not as much work as it sounds like (at least all on one day). I don’t miss the pine nuts, especially in something like this, but if I wanted that texture I’d probably add some toasted walnuts, chopped fine.

I made this once last summer, and put half of the meatballs and squash in the freezer. They held up pretty well, but for me the 1/4″ thick slices of squash were a little too thin, especially once frozen. They kind of fell apart. This time I sliced them thicker, somewhere in between 1/4″ and 1/2″ inch.

As I did last year, I made the full amount of meatballs and squash, but halved the rest of the recipe to make two dinner servings. I actually knocked the amount of pasta down further, to 6oz, but probably could have gotten away with 4 or 5oz. When I want to make the leftovers, I’ll just heat up the meatballs and zucchini while the pasta boils, and then make the brothy sauce.

This is a light but satisfying summer meal, and it would also lend itself well to being made ahead of time.