Pasta Primavera

Super simple, healthy dinner idea packed full of fresh vegetables and nutrition packed! Have kids that love to help in the kitchen? This is perfect ... learn to cook and eat veggies!! It's also a meatless meal option too!

Pasta Primavera

Yield: 4 – 6 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups dry pasta; Shell, wheel, bowtie or rotini shapes
3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
2 – 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, cut into thin strips
1 head broccoli, cut into 1-inch florets
1 small zucchini, cut into half moons
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon basil, dried (or 6 - 8 large fresh leaves, chopped fine)
1⁄2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
1⁄4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Meat Option: 8 – 12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast, 1-inch cubed

Garnish: Fresh grated or shaved Parmesan cheese, fresh basil leaves

Equipment needed:

Large 4 – 5 quart pot for pasta
Colander
Cutting board
Chef knife
Serrated knife
Dry measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Large 12-inch skillet or Wok
Rubber or bamboo spatula
Large serving spoon

I love this recipe! Super easy, nutritious, great meal appeal... who could ask for a better recipe? It was a class favorite in my Foods classes too! Great recipe to learn the basics of cutting and cooking techniques from start to finish. Matter of fact, it was the first cooking lab in my beginner foods class. The steps involve boiling, a variety of cutting techniques and measuring, of course too! Besides learning basic cooking techniques, Primavera requires only a few staple cooking utensils as well. Work together and this recipe takes under 45 minutes to prepare. In class we prepared this recipe in groups of 3 or 4 and prepped, cooked, ate and cleaned up in a class period (47 minutes)! You can do it alone or with your family so...Grab your veggies and let’s get dinner going!

You will want your pasta ready about the time the vegetables are cooked, so begin by placing a large pot of water (~ 4 – 5 quarts) with 1 tablespoon salt added, over high heat to boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions as you prep the rest of the recipe. Drain pasta in a colander and set aside until everything else is ready!

I’m all about dovetailing during food preparation, so while the water is coming to a boil, prep all vegetables. Like I mentioned earlier, this recipe used many cutting techniques to create a variety of shapes. Meal appeal is not just flavor and smell, but appeal to the eye in the form of color,size and shape... as well as texture and temperature for the mouth. Begin by rinsing your vegetables under cold water. Peel the carrots and cut each carrot into 1 1⁄2-inch segments. Cut each segment in half to create a flat surface, safer for cutting... especially for kids. The recipe calls for julienne slices, so slice each half into 4-5 thin, lengthwise slices as shown above. If you prefer round coins... that's fine too! I actually do that sometimes to vary the recipe...

Once again, a flat surface is your goal to cut the onions. Start by peeling the onion and cutting the root end off. Carefully slice the onion horizontally 1 or 2 times and then make 4 – 5 long slices, keeping the onion together at the top. Don’t forget to fold your fingers in like a claw to avoid cutting yourself... Safety first! Now cut in the opposite direction across the onion to create small dices as shown. Chop the remaining chunk of onion to match. For the garlic you purchase them in bulbs or heads. To cook with them you want the small cloves that peel off the head. Remove the skins of each clove first and then mince it. To mince the garlic, I generally slice each clove width and lengthwise and then chop continually until small pieces are created. Some chefs will instruct you to mash the cloves as well, but I prefer to keep the small pieces. You can purchase garlic already minced, but I feel it has less flavor than fresh. (Substitute 1 – 2 teaspoons of jarred minced garlic.)

Broccoli can be purchased in a head or crown form, or in bags already chopped. I prefer the crowns as I can use the stems for other recipes, like soup stock. Key is to cut the florets about the size of a quarter foreasy eating. Stems can also be added too... no sense throwing them out! Zucchini is the easiest prep. Cut the ends off the long zucchini and then slice in 1⁄4 inch slices all the way across. Then slice each in half to create a half moon shape!

Tomatoes are soft with tougher skins so slicing can be challenging. I use a serrated knife, with little teeth on them, which grab the skins and don’t crush the tomato. Remove the stem on top and cut in half to once again create a flat surface. Slice each half vertically and horizontally to create small pieces. Set aside for the end of the cooking process.

Your chopping is done!! Now to put it all together to create a YUMMY meal! Place a 12-inch skillet over medium heat with olive oil for 2 – 3 minutes. (I have a wok and use this for making sautéed pasta dishes that require a lot of stirring... less mess.) Begin cooking by sautéing onions, garlic and carrots strips in the skillet for 3 – 5 minutes. Don’t be tempted to cook too long, as they will cook as you add other ingredients. Add broccoli florets and zucchini to skillet and continue to sauté for an additional 5 - 7 minutes or until broccoli is fork tender and bright green in color. Stir in diced tomatoes, salt, basil and pepper and heat until hot, about 3 minutes. If using fresh basil, slice the basil leaves by making a chiffonade ... shown above. Drain cooked pasta and add to skillet. Blendwell and carefully... sprinkle with cheese and stir well. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Doesn’t it smell amazing and so colorful! All those different shapes and sizes too! Meal appeal galore! To serve, garnish with a sprinkle of additional cheese and a small leaf or two of basil... Enjoy!!