Pasta Primavera

Your 90's revival Spring Fling

Happy Spring!

Can you feel the shift in the air? Can you feel your allergies kicking in? I can, and even though I need to always keep a bottle of Zyrtec handy these days, it’s worth it. Spring is my favorite season because it always feels like renewal. If you’re at all into astrology like I am, you should also know that we’re moving out of Pisces and into Aries. It means it’s time to get to work on all the dreams you’ve been ruminating over for the last couple of months and ignite the fire. We get a little more sunshine in our day and nature is beginning to bloom. It feels good!

As you may or may not know, I got into gardening deep in the last couple of years, and this is my favorite season for growing because it’s still cool enough to grow beautiful lettuces, sweet radishes, and herbs…greens galore! Here in the south, if you haven’t heard, we get lots of bugs and Summer can be relentless with the intense humidity. I must douse myself in bug spray and hope for the best while tending to the summer garden, but Spring….Spring is just pure magic and I’m here for it.

Today I’m sharing a vegetarian pasta dish that was made popular in the 70’s & 80’s, and I recall eating a ton of in the 90’s, Pasta Primavera. My specific memory is eating this dish at least once a month at trattoria on Melrose Ave in the heart of Los Angeles. I wish I remembered the name of this little restaurant but the pasta I ate has never left my mind. It was angel hair pasta with a creamy, buttery sauce along with ribboned onion, carrot, peppers, zucchini, and peas. I used to order it with grilled chicken, very American right? It was luscious, simple,  but hit the spot for me every single time. In my attempt to experience my nostalgia again, I figured this week would be a great time to play around with my approach to the dish. I think you can use whatever veggies tickle your fancy here or what you might have in your fridge, but I do think my idea of roasting all the veggies on a sheet pan really adds to the flavor and ease of the dish. There is a lot of chopping involved but consider it worth your time for adding close to 2 pounds of vegetables to pasta.

Reya got put to work helping chop the veg…

If you need added protein, I suggest some sautéed shrimp or heck, go for the grilled chicken breast! My husband thought that some pancetta or pork product would really make it sing, but just so you know he would eat bacon on anything so enter at your own risk. Have your way with it and let me know how it turns out….Happy Spring!

Pasta Primavera

serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 2 medium carrots, cut in matchsticks