No-Cream Pasta Primavera Recipe | Vegetarian Pasta Primavera
This Vegetarian Pasta Primavera is a light, quick, and delicious dish, perfect for busy weeknights! It can be easily adapted to whatever vegetables you have at hand.
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
Measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml
- 8 oz penne pasta
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup chopped onions
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1 & 1/2 cup diced yellow squash
- 3/4 cup diced zucchini
- 1 cup cubed bell peppers
- 1/2 cup roughly diced Roma tomatoes/cherry tomatoes/ tomatoes of your choice
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, adjust as per desired heat, optional
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 8-10 nos. fresh Basil leaves, substitute with 1 tsp dried basil
- 1/4 cup reserved pasta water/water/vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper, to season
Instructions
- Cook pasta as per package instructions. Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water and set aside. Drain pasta in a colander, apply some oil and set aside. In the meanwhile dice all your veggies and set aside.
- Heat olive oil and butter in a heavy bottomed pan, add onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Saute on medium, heat for about 3-5 minutes until the mushrooms and onions are tender. Do not brown the garlic or onion.
- Next add in the diced zucchini, yellow squash and bell peppers. Saute for about 5-7 minutes until the veggies are tender. Do not make them mushy. Depending on how big or small you have cut them, the veggies may take more or less time to cook. Try and maintain a uniform size for all of them.
- Next add in tomatoes, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, freshly ground pepper and chopped basil. Cook for another 2 minutes until tomatoes are tender but not mushy.
- Add in reserved pasta water. Let it cook until it heats through. Check for salt and adjust accordingly.
- Toss in the pasta along with lemon juice. Mix well, switch off the heat. Sprinkle some more olive oil if desired & grated parmesan cheese before serving.
Notes
- Feel free to add any vegetable to this dish. I added whatever I had in my refrigerator.
- Adjust the seasonings as per your taste.
- If you have time to spare, you can roast the vegetables with salt, pepper, olive oil, fresh herbs until tender (@400 F for 20-25 minutes, tossing them once in between), and then add them to the pasta after sautéing onion, mushrooms, and garlic. The caramelized veggies add an amazing flavor to the dish.
- For another delicious variation, make pesto primavera, stir in a tablespoon or 2 of pesto after mixing the penne with the veggies.
- You can also add some rotisserie chicken if you wish to make chicken pasta primavera.