The "Perfect" Pasta Primavera

"Courtesy Of Ms. Jane Brody and her Good Food Cookbook printed in 1985. We loved this stuff,and I made it a lot on weekends, especially in the summer when vegetables were cheap and abundant,before that Kiddo came along. I'd usually make more pasta,since I was going through all the work anyway,and more of the vegetables we liked the best. It would usually last us for about 3 meals. It is very time consuming, but,really worth it when you're finished. And like any recipe, feel free to add any other vegetable or seasoning you like."
 
Download
photo by lazyme photo by lazyme
photo by lazyme
photo by EK7992 photo by EK7992
photo by NNChick photo by NNChick
Ready In:
2hrs
Ingredients:
19
Serves:
4-6
Advertisement

ingredients

Advertisement

directions

  • Stem or blanch the various vegetables (broccoli,asparagus,peas,zucchiniø- or squash,and corn) as indicated, combine them and keep them warm.
  • In a skillet, saute the garlic in the oil for 1 minute,but do not brown.
  • Add the tomatoes,mushrooms,carrot,parsle and pepper,and cook the mixture for about 5 minutes.
  • Add this to the reserved vegetables, tossing ingredients gently to combine them well.
  • To prepare the sauce, in a small heavy saucepan, melt the butter or margarine,and add flour,whisking the roux over med.
  • -lowheat for 1 minute- gradually add the milk and broth,stirring constantly till the sauce thickens slightly.
  • Stir in the Parmesan and basil,and heat the sauce over med.
  • -lowflame,stirring until cheese is melted.
  • Pour the sauce over the veggie mixture and toss gently to coat.
  • Cook the spaghetti or linguine al dente,drain and keep warm.
  • Place the cooked pasta in a large warmed bowl and spread the veggie and sauce mixture over the pasta, toss the the pasta gently,once or twice, and serve with additional Parmesan, if desired.

Questions & Replies

Got a question? Share it with the community!
Advertisement

Reviews

  1. I'm not leaving any stars because I don't know what went wrong. I doubled the sauce recipe, but it didn't thicken, and the cheese didn't melt, just clumped. The flavor was good, but the sauce was way too thin, and there were little mounds of cheese everywhere.
     
  2. I made this pasta primavera recipe last night and it came out delicious! I used half parsley half cilantro so I got both flavors. I used shallots instead of regular onion, and I also used shredded Parmesan instead of grated. I had all the veggies except peas.. so I skipped the peas.<br/><br/>I used bowtie pasta just for fun! (I included a photo even though I'm not very good at capturing the beauty of the food). The sauce came out very well. I read someone's review that said it was too thin... so I watched it carefully and very slowly added a little more flour. I added "too much" basil by mistake, but found that more basil was spot-on and delicious! <br/>Once the cheese was added it worked like a charm.<br/><br/>Thanks for this recipe. I added it to my bookmarks to use again!
     
  3. This is a great recipe. Just change it to fit your own personal likes and vegetables. I don't use any animal products so no dairy and no oil. I use my own homemade vegan parmesan cheese. This is a regular on our menu. You can easily thicken this with rice flour just add until it is thick enough. Rice flour is great to use because it does not clump or taste gooey!!! Even if you walk away you can come back and stir it back in with no problem. Well worth making and a regular for us.
     
  4. I was looking for a lower calorie version of a creamier pasta and this seemed to fit the bill. This is a good base recipe that I felt needed some tweaking. I made some changes and it came out pretty good. I'd give my version 4 stars as there is still a little room for improvement. What I did differently: I used 2 Tbs of flour (any cream sauce I've made always uses an even flour to butter ratio) and 2 Tbs of margarine. The sauce coated the pasta and veggies nicely and did not sink to the bottom of the bowl. I added a few shakes garlic powder to the sauce and used dried basil (would not leave that out). I roasted my veggies using olive oil, garlic, and salt. I omitted the parsley, though next time I would use it to see if that is the extra punch of flavor I was missing. I might even try adding a small squeeze of lemon for a touch of acidity and flavor next time. I also added sauteed shrimp. I will make this again and continue to tweak it. My husband and toddler enjoyed this dish. I love how colorful it can be and how much lighter it is compared to other cheese sauces. No cream or half and half needed! No stars because I do not like to rate a recipe if I make several changes. Thank you Hep Mep for posting!
     
    • Review photo by EK7992
  5. This makes a lot! We could have halved the recipe and still had plenty. I read some of the reviews about the sauce being thin, so I used cream instead of milk. I hate to say it, but my sauce was still thin. Regardless, the family still enjoyed it. Next time I will play with the veggies to suit my families personal tastes. I will also add some seasoning, as we all added additional parm, fresh grated pepper and used the garlic and sea salt grinder.
     
Advertisement

Tweaks

  1. This makes a lot! We could have halved the recipe and still had plenty. I read some of the reviews about the sauce being thin, so I used cream instead of milk. I hate to say it, but my sauce was still thin. Regardless, the family still enjoyed it. Next time I will play with the veggies to suit my families personal tastes. I will also add some seasoning, as we all added additional parm, fresh grated pepper and used the garlic and sea salt grinder.
     
  2. Great tasting, colorful recipe, & nice sauce! I substituted sliced red onion for the asparagus (had none available) and substituted a yellow squash for the snap peas (had none). For the sauce, I used 1 cup broth and 1/2 cup coffee cream instead of the 1 cup milk and 1/2 cup broth. The sauce was just amazing. The next day, I added about 1 tsp bacon bits to the leftovers for a slightly different flavor. Yummy also. Thank you for a versatile & colorful recipe that I will be making again. I think this sauce would be good with many other dishes as well.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

July 8, 2009: Our resident bionic woman lost her battle to cancer yesterday. MEP was a passionate, caring and beloved member of our community and she will be deeply missed. Our thoughts go out to her family, Gordy and Cakes, at this difficult time. Her vivacious spirit will live on here at Recipezaar. If you'd like to express your condolences, there is a thread here: <br> <br>http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?t=306823 <br> <br>and a cookathon here: <br> <br>http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?t=306828 <br> <br>Liza @ Recipezaar <br>****************************************************** <br> <br>I AM The Bionic Woman. <br> <br>I am married. To El Gordo for 29 years. <br> <br>I have one daughter whom I call Cakes, but is actually Caitlin. She's 18, and absolutely amazing. <br> <br>I also have a dog named Otis Voy - a Chocolate Lab who is 14 years old ! <br> <br>I am a cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 1994. It came back again in 1996, and I then had a bone marrow transplant.Was cancer free for 12 years. <br> <br>I also had a liver transplant in 2005 - and I'm still here... <br> <br>And now I can add that I've just been diagnosed with Secondary Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) as a result of the above-mentioned cancer/bone marrow transplant. <br>The s--- never ends...and now...lung cancer! <br>A new challenge for The Bionic Woman!
 
View Full Profile
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Find More Recipes