Description
Pasta Primavera or “Spring Pasta” highlights tender spring vegetables-asparagus, peas, leeks and pea shoots, tossed with pappardelle, lemon zest, olive oil and spring herbs.
Ingredients
Units
- 6–8 ounces pasta- tagliatelle, fettuccine, pappardelle
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 leek, thinly sliced (or sub 2 shallots or one onion)
- 1 cup fennel bulb, thinly sliced, or sub other spring veggie- see notes
- 1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1 1/2-inch slices (about 3 cups)
- 2 cups snap peas, cut in 1/2 or 1/3rds at a diagonal legnthwise (or sub frozen peas, english peas or edamame)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- zest from one lemon
- optional additions: big handful of pea shoots, 1 watermelon radish
- 1 tablespoon tarragon, mint, or dill, more to taste!
- 1/4–1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley
- 1/2–2/3 cup grated pecorino- or sub parmesan or vegan parmesan
- Optional : 1/4-1/2 Greek yogurt (or plain kefir) for added creaminess or a drizzle of good olive oil.
Instructions
- Cook pasta: Set salted water to boil for pasta – 2 quarts water with 2 teaspoons salt, and boil pasta until al dente, saving one cup of hot salted pasta water.
- Saute Veggies: In an EXTRA-LARGE saute pan, heat oil over medium-low heat. Saute onion and fennel, until softened, add asparagus, snow peas (see notes for substitutions) and garlic, season with salt and pepper and continue to saute until tender-crisp and bright green. Slightly under cooking is better than overcooking here. 🙂
- Combine: Add the pasta, lemon zest, cheese, pea shoots and watermelon radish, and a little pasta water to loosen it, tossing to coat the pasta, heating it up gently, allowing the cheese to incorporate. Toss in 2/3rds of the herbs. Taste and add more salt as needed. Add a generous drizzle of good olive oil or added creaminess, toss in some plain yogurt- start with 1/2 cup, more as desired.
- Taste once more, adjusting salt and pepper. If it is bland, it needs more salt.
- Pour it onto a serving platter and scatter with the remaining herbs. Enjoy!
Notes
Veggies: You’ll need roughly 6 cups of veggies, including the onion. Other veggies will work too- broccoli, green beans, mushrooms, bell pepper, zucchini, etc. Frozen peas or edamame can be tossed in with the pasta for the last minute of cooking to thaw.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ½ cups (with pecorino & yogurt)
- Calories: 400
- Sugar: 8.6 g
- Sodium: 507.4 mg
- Fat: 16.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 49.6 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 16.8 g
- Cholesterol: 11.8 mg
