Creamy Lemon Courgette Rigatoni is a wonderful summery pasta. Lots of veggies all cooked in one pan in around 20 minutes for a speedy weeknight meal the whole family can enjoy!

I actually first made this lemon courgette rigatoni allll the way back last summer while living in the caravan.  I posted it to Pinterest as a quick meal idea for busy weeknights.  I never posted the full recipe to the website as it was a bit ad hoc and I only filmed a quick video with no photos for the website.  But to date it’s one of my most popular Pinterest recipes – the other being these spicy spinach and lentil enchiladas.  So I finally got round to putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and writing up the recipe properly.

Because this creamy dreamy pasta absolutely deserves it.  It’s simple (so so simple).  And all cooked in one pan so while here in the UK we’re enjoying a rather nice summer, there’s no multiple pans heating up your kitchen!

If you have yourself a veggie averse picky eater it’s unlikely they’ll even notice the courgette in this lemon pasta. It cooks down and almost ‘melts’ into the rest of the pasta sauce.  If they don’t like spinach you can just leave it out.

How to make this simple summer pasta:

Because this is so simple to actually cook I find it worth getting everything ready before hand.  It’s then just a case of adding things to the pan in order before leaving it to bubble to cook the pasta.

So start by prepping the veggies – slice and wash the leeks, peel and crush the garlic* and grate the courgette.

*I’ve been really lazy lately and buying my garlic pre-crushed in a jar.  Honestly, game changer!!

Measure out your wine and stock and lemon juice into a jug.  Have a little bowl with your herbs, spices and nutritional yeast mixed together ready to go.

Heat a little oil and butter in a large saucepan.  Saute the leeks for 3-4 minutes over a medium heat until just softened and starting to caramelise.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.

Stir in the sage, paprika and nutritional yeast.

Add the wine, stock and lemon juice and stir everything together.  Stir in the grated courgette and rigatoni pasta.  Bubble over a medium heat for 10-12 minutes until the pasta is just al dente (firm to the bite).

Wilt in the spinach and basil then stir in the cheeses.  Once the cheese has melted stir in the cream and seasoning to taste.

Leftover pasta?

This lemon courgette pasta makes terrific leftovers – reheat in a saucepan or microwave.  It’s even pretty delicious cold for a packed lunch!

Substitutions for your lemon courgette rigatoni:

• The leeks can be substituted with white or brown onions
• The sage can be swapped for oregano or rosemary
• Use any other short pasta for this – farfalle, conchiglie, penne etc
• Omit the spinach if you don’t like it

Looking for even more easy vegan pasta recipes?  Try these:

Mushroom Pasta Sauce

Pasta Salad

Roast Cauliflower Vegan Pesto Pasta

Creamy Tomato and Black Garlic Tagliatelle 

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