Pasta Primavera

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 April 30, 2014

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 Do you know what
makes me really proud of myself as a housekeeper? When I use up the ingredients in my
refrigerator or pantry that have a really high possibility of being tossed for one reason or another.

When I give new life to leftovers or salvage the one lone tomato, wrinkly carrot or whatever else
may be hiding in the depths of the crisper drawers or pantry shelves, I feel like doing a jig in the
middle of my tiny kitchen and then most definitely tell my husband all about my latest save.
Sergi will back me up on this one.

When I recently made a batch of delicious Almond Cookies, I was left with some egg yolks,
which I dutifully saved in a small bowl. I even had a specific dish in mind when I was placing
them on the shelf next to my jam – Homemade Pasta.

Since it’s spring and the supermarket shelves are stocked with glorious vegetables, I really
wanted to pair the pasta with a sauce and plenty of those crispy green beauties. I made my
version of Pasta Primavera, and it satisfied every craving I had. Sergi and I ate it as an entree for
dinner and I didn’t miss the meat at all. 

Ingredients:

12 oz. fresh pasta or 8 oz dry pasta

1 lb asparagus

1 medium zucchini, halved and sliced

1 medium yellow squash, halved and sliced

2 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 – 1/2 cup heavy cream

1/3 – 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated

1-3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2- 1 cup frozen peas

1-2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

salt, pepper

Instructions:
 Preheat the oven to
425 degrees. Place a large rimmed baking sheet inside the oven while the oven is preheating and
let it get rip-roaring hot.

This is a trick I use a lot for roasting veggies. They will immediately start to sizzle and sear,
instead of heat up slowly, steam and only then, after the vegetables are already cooked most of
the way, start to sear. What do you get? Mushy, ugly gray/tan vegetables.  

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Prep the asparagus by taking one of the spears and holding it towards the bottom of the spear,
bend it until it naturally snaps. The part that snaps off is really tough and fibrous and you
definitely don’t want to be chewing on it.

You can line up all the asparagus spears and cut off the bottom of the asparagus at the point
where the first spear broke off. You can also continue snapping each spear; it will only take you
a minute to do. Throw out the fibrous spear tips. (Unless you want to save them to be used in

broth later.)

Make sure the

vegetables are thoroughly dried before the next step. If they are not completely dry, they will
steam instead of roast in the oven.

Toss the asparagus with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Toss the zucchini and yellow squash with another Tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt
and pepper.
Place the asparagus, the zucchini and yellow squash on the preheated baking sheet.

The baking sheet

will be searingly hot, so be careful! Roast the vegetables in the preheated oven for about 10
minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

The thing about Pasta Primavera is that you can use many kinds of vegetables in this dish.
Think bell peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, snap peas, spinach, broccoli, broccolini or
carrots. I’m sure you get the idea.You can add some sautéed, roasted or grilled chicken to
this dish too.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1/2 Tablespoon of oil in a skillet. Add the onion and garlic.
Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, until tender and lightly golden.

Pour in the heavy

cream, bring to a boil and cook for about 2 minutes, until the sauce thickens.

Add the Parmesan

cheese, whisk to combine.
 Set aside and keep
warm.

When the vegetables and the sauce are both ready, add the fresh pasta to the boiling water
and cook for 3-5 minutes only. Fresh pasta cooks SO quickly, which is why I have the rest of the
ingredients ready to go before I cook the pasta.

Drain the pasta, reserving about a cup of the pasta water.

You can buy fresh pasta at the grocery store, and of course, you can use regular dry pasta
too, whichever one that you like. I don’t care. It’s your food:). Fresh pasta contains more
water so it’s heavier than dried. The general rule is to scale back the amount of dried pasta
by a third when measuring by weight. In this case, you will need 8 oz of dry pasta. 

Gently toss the

pasta, roasted veggies, lemon juice, sauce, frozen peas and parsley together. (There’s no need to
thaw the peas first. The heat of the pasta will zap the cold right out of them.)
 Add some of the
reserved pasta water, to loosen the sauce a bit, adding as much as you think it needs. You can
garnish each serving with extra parsley and Parmesan cheese.

Pasta Primavera
 
Print
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
15 mins
Total time
30 mins
 
Author: Olga's Flavor Factory
Recipe type: Entree
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients

 12 oz. fresh pasta

 1 lb asparagus
 1 medium zucchini, halved and sliced
 2½ Tablespoons olive oil
 1 medium yellow squash, halved and sliced
 1 onion, chopped
 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
 ⅓ - ½ cup heavy cream
 ⅓ - ½ cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
 1-3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
 ½- 1 cup frozen peas
 1-2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
 salt, pepper

Instructions
 1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place a large rimmed baking sheet inside the oven while
the oven is preheating.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
3. Prep the asparagus by taking one of the spears and holding it towards the bottom of the
spear, bend it until it naturally snaps. The part that snaps off is really tough and fibrous
and you definitely don't want to be chewing on it. You can line up all the asparagus
spears and cut off the bottom of the asparagus at the point where the first spear broke off.
You can also continue snapping each spear; it will only take you a minute to do. Throw
out the fibrous spear tips. (Unless you want to save them to be used in broth later.)
4. Toss the asparagus with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Toss the
zucchini and yellow squash with another Tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and
pepper. Place the asparagus, the zucchini and yellow squash on the preheated baking
sheet. The baking sheet will be searingly hot, so be careful!
5. Roast the vegetables in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are
tender.
6. Meanwhile, heat the remaining ½ Tablespoon of oil in a skillet. Add the onion and garlic.
Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, until tender and lightly golden.
7. Pour in the heavy cream, bring to a boil and cook for about 2 minutes, until the sauce
thickens.
8. Add the Parmesan cheese, whisk to combine. Set aside and keep warm.
9. When the vegetables and the sauce are both ready, add the fresh pasta to the boiling water
and cook for 3-5 minutes only. Fresh pasta cooks SO quickly, which is why I have the
rest of the ingredients ready to go before I cook the pasta. Drain the pasta, reserving
about a cup of the pasta water.
10. Gently toss the pasta, roasted veggies, lemon juice, sauce, frozen peas and parsley
together.
11. Add some of the reserved pasta water, to loosen the sauce a bit, adding as much as you
think it needs. You can garnish each serving with extra parsley and Parmesan cheese.

Notes
The thing about Pasta Primavera is that you can use many kinds of vegetables in this dish. Think
bell peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, snap peas, spinach, broccoli, broccolini or carrots. I'm sure
you get the idea.You can add some sautéed, roasted or grilled chicken to this dish too.