This was a meal that didn’t quite make it to Vegetarian Week. Not because it wasn’t delicious, but because I am lazy! Anyway, this was pretty good. The original recipe is from Everyday Italian and I didn’t change that much. I just added garlic (how could there have been no garlic originally??), some lemon and some basil at the end. Although I forgot to garnish it before I snapped the pictures. And then we started eating and I didn’t feel like taking new pictures with the basil…)
Pasta Primivara
3 carrots, peeled and cut into thin strips
2 medium zucchini or 1 large zucchini, cut into thin strips
2 yellow squash, cut into thin strips
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
6 big cloves garlic, halved
1/4 cup olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs or herbes de Provence
1 pound farfalle (bowtie pasta)
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup fresh, chopped basil
1/2 tsp lemon zest + 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
red pepper flakes to taste
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Toss all of the vegetables with the oil, salt, pepper, and dried herbs to coat. Transfer the vegetable mixture to two large baking sheet and arrange the vegetables on each sheet.
Roast until the carrots are tender and the vegetables begin to brown, stirring after the first 10 minutes, about 20 minutes total. At first, I thought this would be way too much time but it was actually a perfect amount. The vegetables were a little caramelized but not overdone.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving at least 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the vegetable mixtures in a large bowl to combine. Toss with the cherry tomatoes and enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten. I also added a bit more olive oil at this point, as well as a sprinkling of red pepper flakes.
Season the pasta with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve immediately. For fun, I added a little lemon zest and juice to brighten up the flavor. Garnish with fresh chopped basil.
I also like this dish because leftovers are great for lunch. You can also take the leftover primavera, mix it with some pasta sauce, put it in a baking dish, top with mozzarella and bake until golden and you have a completely different meal!