Quick & Easy - Lemon'y Light Pasta with Summer Squash

I am a huge meat eater; there is not a type of meat that I've had that I don't like or wouldn't eat again.  But eating meat 7 days a week isn't exactly the healthiest - or most interesting - thing to do.  So to break up the meat consumption, I have started to look for vegetarian recipes that are quick, healthy, & full of flavor.

We knew we wanted vegetarian & we wanted pasta; so that's what I Googled.  The first result is from Delish which showed 20 vegetarian pasta recipes.  I chose the Penne Tricolore since I had most of the ingredients already & it looked like something that I could make in 1 pot.

My adaption of the original recipe had...

     3/4 box penne pasta

     1 large zucchini

     1 yellow squash

     1 white squash

     1/4 cup basil, chopped

     1/4 cup parmesan, grated

     1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

     Zest of 1 lemon

     Juice of 1 lemon

     3/4 teaspoon salt

     1/4 teaspoon black pepper

It was kind of an orchestrated process...
     In a large pot, start heating up 4 quarts of water
     While the water is heating up, peel the zucchini & squash & cut them into matchsticks
     Once the water boils, salt it aggressively & add in the pasta; cook for 9 minutes
     In a big bowl, combine basil, EVOO, lemon zest/juice, salt, & pepper
     When the 9 minutes are up, add squash with pasta & cook for 2 more minutes
     Drain the pasta & squash into a colander, making sure all the excess water is out
     Put the pasta into the bowl of sauce & toss until it's all evenly coated
     When serving, grate some extra parmesan cheese on top.

At first, the individual flavors of the oil, basil, & lemon juice really stood out & even fought against each other.  But after letting it sit together for a minute & the heat from the pasta integrated everything together.  The end product was light, fresh, & perfect for summer (or if you're having a "fat day").  I didn't mind having the seeds of the squash but if you do, you can cut the squash half, seed it, & cut it into thin semi-circles instead of matchsticks.  The pasta also works just as well without the squash as a side dish to go with fish.