Pasta Primavera

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Pasta Primavera

1/2 lb angel hair pasta or spaghetti
1 bunch broccoli — about 1 heaping cup of florets
1 zucchini, diced
4 asparagus spears
1/2 cup peas, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup snow peas
3 minced garlic cloves
3 Roma or other paste tomatoes, seeded and diced
12 basil leaves, chopped
4 tbs butter
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt

Blanch the broccoli, asparagus, snow peas

Get a large pot of water boiling. Salt it well. It should taste like the sea. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Boil the broccoli for 1 min.

Add the asparagus and boil another min. Add the snow peas and boil for 30 more sec.

Remove all the vegetables and plunge them into the ice water. Once they’re cool, drain in a colander.

Save the water to use for the pasta.

Sauté zucchini and garlic, then add tomatoes

In a large sauté pan, heat the butter over medium-high heat. When the butter is hot, add the garlic and zucchini and sauté 1 min.

Add the diced tomatoes and sauté another 2 min, stirring often.

Add broth, cream, blanched vegetables, peas

Pour in the chicken or vegetable broth and turn the heat to high to bring it to a boil.

Add the cream and toss in all the vegetables you boiled, plus the peas. Stir to combine.

Turn the heat down until the cream-chicken broth mixture is just simmering, not boiling.

Add Parmesan

Add the Parmesan cheese and stir to combine. If the sauce seems too thick – it should be pretty thick, but not gloppy – add some more chicken broth, cream or water.

Boil the angel hair pasta

If using spaghetti, start cooking it before sautéing the garlic and zucchini. Angel hair will only need 1-2 min to cook, vermicelli or spaghetti can take 8-12 min.

Transfer cooked pasta to sauce and vegetables

As soon as the pasta is done, transfer it with tongs into the sauce and stir to combine.

Add the basil now, and taste for salt. Add salt if needed. Grind some black pepper over everything and serve immediately.  Serves 4

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