Pasta Primavera

This is just lovely.  Quick, easy, healthy, and a great way to use up random bits of veggies in your fridge!

Pasta primavera is a combination of veggies, pasta, and a light sauce - it's delicious and can be made in tons of different ways depending on what you have in the fridge!

Trust me, make this tonight.

You'll love it!

My favorite veggies for this are tomatoes, zucchini, and green onions, but REALLY use whatever you have.

Here's what you'll need:

• cooked pasta
• butter
• anchovy paste
• crushed red pepper
• onions (green are GREAT)
• garlic
• fresh tomatoes
• veggies - whatever you'd like!  1 cup of raw veggies for every serving
• salt and pepper
• white wine
• chicken stock
• cream or half and half
• lemon
• parmesan cheese, for serving

Look at these fun little angel hair nests!  Use any pasta you'd like.  I like long pasta, but any cut you have on hand or prefer to eat is just fine.

Same goes with the veggies - just grab whatever you have.  I DO like tomatoes, because they add a nice tang to the sauce, but use a few drained, diced canned tomatoes if it's winter and you don't have any fresh ones.

Anychovy paste does not taste like fish, so please calm down about that.  It tastes salty and nutty and you should keep it in your fridge at all times.

But, if you don't have any, skip it.  No biggie.

First, heat a large pan with a pat of butter, some crushed red pepper, and a squirt of anchovy paste.

The anchovies will essentially "fry," and they'll splatter a bit in the process.  Use a splatter guard if you have one!

While the butter is melting and the pan is heating up, start cutting up your veggies.  I left the cherry tomatoes whole, but if you're using a large tomato cut it into chunks.

Look at these fun little zucchini!  Adorbs.

When the pan is hot I throw in the tomatoes and let them char on the outside until they start to burst a little bit - they'll continue to break down as you cook the rest of the sauce and will be super delish.

Roll the tomatoes around in the butter/anchovy mixture and keep cutting things up.    When you cut the onions, keep the whites and greens separately - the greens are so tender that we'll add them right at the end.

Berry berry good.

Once the tomatoes have softened a wee bit, add the hard vegetables.

Hard, hehe.

See how things are moving along nicely?  I like veggies, especially when they're in butter that tastes like salty nuts.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

I'm sorry.

Let the veggies soften for 2 minutes or so, then add in the garlic and whites of the onions.

Sweet!  Stir that all together and let the onions and garlic soften for 90 seconds or so.

Please note, we have added zero salt to this dish.  THIS IS INTENTIONAL.  Anchovy paste is massively salty, so wait until the very end to add salt to the dish if it needs it.

Seriously.

Once the onions and garlic have grooved with the rest of the veggies, pour in the wine and let it cook out for a minute or so - it should reduce by half.  Squeeze the lemon juice in here, too!

Whoa, personal decision time!  I do not care how much stock you add, if any, or how much cream you use.

It's up to you!  We've come so far in the kitchen together, and I think you can decide for yourself.

I like the tang of wine in food, so I used a cup of wine, half cup of cream, and a splash of stock just at the end to thin everything out and help the sauce coat the pasta.

But that's just me - make your own decision.  In any event, add the cream once the pasta is cooked and you're nearly ready to eat with the green onions.

That's just great, isn't it?  Stir everything together and NOW taste it and add salt and pepper as you'd like.

Then, stir in any leafy greens (if using, I had some spinach that was dying a slow wilty death), and the pasta, and let everything meld together for just one more minute or so.

Isn't that glorious?   It's delicious, hard to mess up, and reasonably healthy.  Serve with bread and parm and go to TOWN.