A few days ago, heralded the official first day of spring and what better way to celebrate than with this colorful and delicious pasta primavera. Pasta is one of my favorite types of food to prepare (and eat!) and all the fresh vegetables of pasta primavera give it a light and balanced taste to help celebrate the flavors of spring in this dinner recipe. The parmesan cheese gives a background note that smooths the pasta out without overpowering the vegetables.

While so many of us around the world are under shelter in place orders, this is a great dinner recipe because you probably already have the base ingredients in your stock pile. It’s a nice way to use a lot of your fresh produce before it spoils. I also imagine, like me, a lot of you have some frozen produce. That works well for pasta primavera too. You’ll see in the video that I used frozen peas in my pasta primavera and they taste fresh and delicious. Fruits and vegetables are frozen at their peak ripeness so the flavor, quality, and nutritional value is great. So, use what you have. If all you have right now are canned vegetables you can use those. For the time being you may not have all the vegetables listed so just substitute as needed. If you don’t have carrots but you do have broccoli, then by all means substitute it in your pasta primavera.

A few helpful tips for making pasta primavera right

• Order Matters: when you sauté a variety of vegetables together as is called for in pasta primavera, be careful of the order in which you add your vegetables to the frying pan. Hard veggies, like carrots, should be the first to go in to get the right texture. Don’t add watery vegetables, like zucchini, too early or the water will release and make your vegetables mushy. Finally, if you’re using a frozen ingredient, like frozen peas, add them last because they will cook quickly and you don’t want overcooked vegetables in your pasta primavera.

• Oil + Salt as you go: I don’t believe there’s a perfect measurement for how much oil and salt you will need to use. Remember to start with a small amount and then add as needed for both your oil and salt.

Pasta Primavera Ingredients (4 servings)

• 1/2 Pound of Pasta (I like Farfalle pasta for pasta primavera but you can use whatever type you prefer)

• 1 Cup Chopped Carrots

• 1/2 Cup Chopped Red Peppers

• 1/2  Cup Chopped Yellow Peppers

• 1/2 Cup Chopped Zucchini

• 1/2 Cup Chopped Yellow Squash

• 1 Cup Peas

• 1 Cup Chopped Onions

• 2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced

• 1 Cup Cherry Tomatoes Sliced in half

• 1/4 Cup Chopped Parsley

• 2 Tablespoons tomato sauce (I use Rao's)

• 1/2 Cup Olive Oil

• 1/2 teaspoon Crushed Chili Flakes

• 1/2 teaspoon Dried Italian Herbs

• Salt to season as you go

Pasta Primavera Instructions

• Fill a pot half way with water and bring to a boil.

• Add a generous amount of salt to the water, and then add half pound of pasta. Allow to cook

• Put some olive oil (add as needed through out the process of sautéing vegetables) in non-stick frying pan on high heat

• Add onions to the pan sauté for 2-3 minutes

• Add carrots on medium/high heat and combine chili pepper and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes

• Add peppers and cook approximately 1 minute

• Add zucchini and yellow squash

• Add cherry tomatoes

• Add dried Italian herbs and tomato sauce

• Add peas

• Combine pasta to mixture including a little bit of the pasta water. Allow pasta to cook in the sauce to absorb the flavors

• Turn off heat. Add parmesan and mix

• Plate and top with fresh parsley, cheese, and olive oil