Chances are, you or someone near to you — a neighbor or a coworker, perhaps — has a garden full of yellow and green zucchini, the never-ending summer squash. And by now, you might be a bit tired of zucchini bread and grilled rings of squash that kind of turn to mush after five minutes.

One of my favorite ways to quickly cook these oft-maligned veggies is to turn them into a faux pasta, which requires little more than a vegetable peeler and a pot of water.

The idea is simple — peel the squash lengthwise to create ribbons of that resemble a wide fettuccine or pappardelle. Blanch them quickly then add a few accompaniments for flavor. Easy, right?

Ingredients

• A mixture of green zucchini and yellow summer squash, about one of each per person
• Thinly sliced shallot, about 1/4 per person (you could sub onion or sliced garlic here)
• Cherry tomatoes, halved¹, I like to use a mix of cherry, grape, sungolds
• Some olive oil
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese

First things first, set a big pot of water to boil. While that’s going, set a small to medium frying pan on low to medium-low. Add a slick of olive oil to the pan, not much, and let it heat up for just a minute. Don’t let the oil get too hot or it will develop an off taste.

Add the sliced shallots to the oil in the frying pan to soften them a bit. The temperature should be low enough that they shouldn’t brown at all, only slightly simmer.

Now, peel your squash, lengthwise. You can usually get a few strips before you start to hit the seeds, at that point, rotate the vegetable and keep going until you’ve got a pile of squash ribbons. I haven’t found much use for the center core and usually just compost it.

The water should be at a full boil at this point. Add a few tablespoons of sea or kosher salt, let it come back to boil, then add a handful of the squash ribbons. Don’t overcrowd the pot, it’s ok to work in batches here. After one minute, the squash will be ready, fish them out with a set of tongs and let them drain in a colander while you work through the rest of the ribbons. Don’t let them overcook, you want to get them to be soft but not mushy — al dente.

When the squash are all done, add a serving’s worth to the frying pan with the oil and shallots, then toss just enough to coat in the oil. Add a healthy amount of parmesan cheese, then turn again to melt the cheese, then move the pasta to a bowl for serving. Again, it’s best to work in batches here.

Before serving, add a handful of the tomato halves, season with a three-finger pinch of grey or kosher salt and a few turns of the pepper mill. I’ll even throw in some prosciutto if I’ve got some.

If you’re looking to capture the end of the summer in a bowl, fresh and crisp, this should do the trick.