Pasta primavera is what happens when spring vegetables and pasta meet and get along wonderfully. It's bright, it's cheerful, and it manages to feel lighter than most pasta dinners without compromising on flavour. If you have a glut of garden vegetables — zucchini, asparagus, peas, beans — this is where they go.
The technique here is simple: you want the vegetables to be just cooked, retaining their colour and some bite. Not mushy. A quick sauté in olive oil is all they need, and the pasta cooking water does the work of making the sauce silky and light.
This is one of the few pasta dinners where my husband doesn't ask where the meat is, which I take as a significant endorsement. A good shower of lemon zest and parmesan at the end makes it sing. Don't be shy with either.
"The lemon zest at the end makes it sing. Don't be shy."
Ingredients
- 400g pasta (fusilli, farfalle or penne)
- 1 bunch asparagus, tough ends trimmed, cut into 4cm pieces
- 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
- 2 medium zucchini, diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 60g parmesan, grated
- 10 fresh basil leaves, torn
- Salt and black pepper
Method
Step 1
Cook the pasta in well-salted boiling water. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water before draining.
Step 2
Heat the olive oil in a large frypan over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and cook for 3 minutes until starting to colour. Add the asparagus and cook 2 minutes more. Add the garlic and cherry tomatoes and cook 1 minute.
Step 3
Add the peas and cook 1 minute. Add the drained pasta to the pan with a good splash of pasta water. Toss to combine over medium heat, adding more water to create a light sauce.
Step 4
Remove from heat. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and half the parmesan. Toss well. Scatter with basil and remaining parmesan. Season generously and serve immediately.
