Spring Fresh Pasta & Vegetables

by

My version for a Spring Fresh Pasta & Vegetables is loosely based on some versions also known as Pasta Primavera. Either way you cut it; it all comes down to a simple pairing of pasta, cheese, cream and seasonal vegetables and herbs. Fresh is key here – but dried herbs and even some frozen veg will work. In this case I am using frozen peas since I couldn’t get them fresh yet here.

  • Ingredients

    • 1/2 pound sugar snap peas, stems trimmed

    • ½ pound asparagus, ends snapped

    • 1 cup of broccoli florets

    • 1 cup halved grape or cherry tomatoes

    • ¼ cup thinly sliced spring onion, white part only (or use shallot)

    • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

    • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, more as needed

    • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

    • Black pepper, more as needed

    • 12 ounces your preferred pasta

    • ⅔ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, at room temperature

    • 1/2 cup dairy (your choice; crème fraîche or whole milk Greek yogurt, thick sour cream or marscapone cream) at room temperature

    • 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley, thyme, and and/or other fresh herbs in season

    • zest and juice of one lemon

    • 1 tablespoon  herbs de province

    • Red Pepper flakes to taste

    • Fresh Basil for garnish

    • Optional: ¾ cup fresh English peas

    • Optional garnishes: Toasted Pine Nuts, chopped bacon bits

    Preparation:

    1. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil over medium-high heat.

    2. Prep all the vegetables; halve tomatoes and snap peas, wash and rough chop amperages, onions, etc into 1/4 in pieces

    3. Chop your Herbs

    4. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

    5. Add snap peas, asparagus, broccoli and onions/shallots, peas (if fresh)

    6. Cook until vegetables are barely tender 3 minutes.

    7. Add red pepper flakes (to taste), garlic and cook 1 minute more.

    8. If using frozen peas add them now

    9. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.

    10. Drop pasta into boiling water and cook according to the instructions

    11. Drain well and transfer pasta to a large bowl. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta liquid. DO NOT RINSE THE PASTA

    12. Immediately toss pasta with warm vegetables,

    13. Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano, your selected dairy creams, lemon juice and herbs, tomatoes lemon zest

    14. Season generously with salt and pepper, more red pepper flakes if needed.

    15. Plate and top with bacon bits and lightly toasted pine nuts and fresh basil

This is one of the dishes  I made previously on @foodtoktv live. You can see that live on the @Foodtoktv Youtube channel

Follow me tiktok under @KitchenBearSF (in addition to my original profile Frank_Mentorsf) as work up to the 1k needed followers to start going live cooking again