PASTA PRIMAVERA

Pasta Primavera is my contribution to Meeta from 'What's for lunch honey's "Monthly Mingle" event.This month's theme is "Spring is in the air".Thanks for hosting Meeta:)




Primavera which literally means "Spring" in Italian and Spanish too(as my daughter,a Spanish student tells me!),is an "Italian American" dish that usually consists of pasta with red tomato sauce and fresh vegetables.Meat such as chicken, sausage etc can be added if you like, but the focus of primavera is the Spring vegetables themselves like Asparagus,Carrots etc.

Pasta: I used Fettuccine pasta for this dish along with lots of vegetables.Other pasta varieties you can use for this dish are Farfalle(Bow tie),Penne, Fusilli and Rotini etc. There is a funny story about this dish which is created by a Italian American in US just like Alfredo sauce and it's not really the same as real Italian dish!!Would like to read about it? Click here!


Pasta Primavera:
Serves 3-4 people.



Vegetables:
I used all kinds of veggies I could find in my fridge and freezer to make this dish.You can do the same too,there are no rules about what to use as long as they are fresh vegetables.I skipped Tomatoes since I didn't want want the sauce to be colored red and I can't see the colors of the other veggies!:)




What you need:
1 tbsp butter or Olive oil,2 clove garlic, minced,2 tsp plain flour,1 cup fat-free Half and Half,1/2 cup stock or water(if needed to thin the sauce),1/4 cup cauliflower,1/4 broccoli,1 med.Zucchini,cut into 3" sticks,1 Celery, 1 carrot, thin 4" strips (use the peeler),1/4 cup Petite peas,1 tbsp sour cream or relish,2 tbsp chopped basil or any seasoning mix you like,salt and pepper,1/4 cup grated Romano/Parmesan cheese.1/2 lb. fettuccine pasta,cooked with salt and drained.


How to make it:


Cook Pasta with salt until almost cooked,drain and keep it ready covered.Prepare the vegetables cut into strips,thaw frozen ones and microwave for 5mins just until tender not cooked completely,drain and keep aside.Heat a large non-stick pan,melt butter or Olive oil.Saute garlic,add the flour and half and half ,mix well.Simmer until thickish.



Add the sour cream,basil,salt ,pepper,taste to adjust the spices.Stir in cheese and mix well.Stir in vegetables,simmer for 2 mins and add pasta and toss everything gently.Sauce should be just coated on the pasta and vegetables.If you find the sauce to thick ,add a bit of stock to thin it.Pasta Primavera tastes better after 3omins.You can serve this warm or chilled.



Your delicious Pasta Primavera is ready!




Enjoy the dish and enjoy the Spring!!