What's not to love about fresh veggies? Asparagus is still available here in Ohio...and still looks nice and fresh, so a couple weeks ago, we had pasta primavera for dinner. Doesn't it look yummy?
Here are the veggies sauteeing in some good olive oil. I added in the baby bella mushrooms first, got them nice & flavorful...then in went the garlic, sliced leeks & yellow squash. The asparagus was the next player to enter, and finally some grape tomatoes & thawed frozen peas. If you look closely at this pic, you can see the steam rising from the pan.
Then the cooked pasta was added...al dente, of course. I used Barilla Plus Thin Spaghetti this time. It does have a lot of extra good things for you, but at 2.5 times the price of a box of regular Barilla Thin Spaghetti, I'm not sure it's going to be a staple on our menu. Once all of this goodness was tossed together, it was served & some grated Parmesan cheese added the final touch. It could have used some Italian flat leaf parsley at the end, too...but we didn't have any that day.
The veggies & pasta were so yummy. Each was done just right...even the asparagus was just tender, but crisp. The only disappointment was the grape tomatoes. They had a very bitter flavor for some reason. Pretty color, but terrible flavor. I'm afraid we picked around those...next time I think additional color will come from sliced carrots or maybe some red peppers. I'm not a big fan of cooked peppers...love them raw, but cooked...not so much. If I add them just at the end, they should be fine.
This yummy pasta dish will definitely take on a lot of reincarnations on our summer menu. Quick & easy...and good for you, too. We have a Farmer's Market opening here in Parma around mid-June...it's at Stearn's Homestead, which is an actual farm right in the heart of Parma, OH! With fresh off the local farm veggies, we'll be eating good in the neighborhood.
Debbie...this looks delicious! Fresh asparagus is my favorite veggie!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a delicious dish! Maybe real cherry tomatoes from your farmer's market later this summer will taste better than the bitter grape ones.
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