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Beef Bourguignon
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Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Pasta Primavera
Created by
A tangle of pasta embracing the first tender vegetables of spring, dressed simply with garlic, good olive oil, and a shower of Parmesan. The season on a plate.
Main Dishes
Italian
Weeknight
20 min
Active Time
15 min cook•35 min total
Yield4 servings
Primavera means spring. The dish should taste like it.
This is not about pasta with vegetables. It is about vegetables with pasta. The noodles are there to carry the asparagus, the peas, the young zucchini, the snap of a sugar snap pod still warm from the vine. When these things are right, when they come from a farmer who picked them that morning, you do not need to do much.
I learned this at the market in Berkeley decades ago. A farmer handed me a bundle of asparagus so fresh the cut ends were still wet. I barely blanched them, tossed them with hot pasta and olive oil, and understood something I have never forgotten: perfect ingredients need almost nothing done to them. Your job is to get out of the way.
Every meal is a meaningful choice. When you buy those first spring vegetables from someone who grew them, you are voting for a food system that makes sense. The pasta tastes better for it. Connection has a flavor.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried pasta
Quantity
1 pound
penne, fusilli, or farfalle
extra-virgin olive oil
Quantity
1/4 cup, plus more for finishing
garlic
Quantity
4 cloves
thinly sliced
asparagus
Quantity
1 bunch (about 1 pound)
trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
zucchini
Quantity
2 small
halved lengthwise and sliced into half-moons
sugar snap peas
Quantity
1 cup
strings removed
fresh or frozen peas
Quantity
1 cup
cherry tomatoes
Quantity
1 pint
halved
red pepper flakes
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
kosher salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground
Parmesan cheese
Quantity
1 cup
freshly grated, plus more for serving
fresh basil leaves
Quantity
1/2 cup
torn
lemon
Quantity
1
zested and juiced
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried pastapenne, fusilli, or farfalle | 1 pound |
| extra-virgin olive oil | 1/4 cup, plus more for finishing |
| garlicthinly sliced | 4 cloves |
| asparagustrimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces | 1 bunch (about 1 pound) |
| zucchinihalved lengthwise and sliced into half-moons | 2 small |
| sugar snap peasstrings removed | 1 cup |
| fresh or frozen peas | 1 cup |
| cherry tomatoeshalved | 1 pint |
| red pepper flakes | 1/2 teaspoon |
| kosher salt | to taste |
| black pepperfreshly ground | to taste |
| Parmesan cheesefreshly grated, plus more for serving | 1 cup |
| fresh basil leavestorn | 1/2 cup |
| lemonzested and juiced | 1 |
Equipment Needed
- •Large pot for pasta (6-quart minimum)
- •Large skillet or sauté pan (12-inch)
- •Colander
- •Microplane or fine grater for Parmesan
Instructions
- 1
Salt your water generously
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Salt it until it tastes like the sea. This is your only chance to season the pasta from within. Taste the water. If it does not make you think of ocean waves, add more salt.
About two tablespoons of kosher salt per quart of water. The pasta absorbs this seasoning as it cooks. Undersalted water makes undersalted pasta, and no amount of sauce will fix it. - 2
Warm the garlic in oil
While the water heats, pour the olive oil into your largest skillet and set it over medium-low heat. Add the sliced garlic and let it warm slowly until fragrant and barely golden at the edges, about three minutes. Watch it carefully. Garlic goes from perfect to bitter in seconds. The oil should shimmer, not smoke.
- 3
Cook the vegetables in stages
Raise the heat to medium-high. Add the asparagus pieces first because they need the most time. Cook for two minutes, tossing occasionally, until they turn bright green and lose their raw edge. Add the zucchini and cook another two minutes. Then the sugar snap peas, one minute more. The vegetables should be tender but still have backbone. Nothing limp or defeated.
Cooking in stages matters. Each vegetable has its own timeline. Asparagus needs longer than peas. Respect what each one requires. - 4
Add peas and tomatoes
Add the fresh peas and halved cherry tomatoes. Sprinkle in the red pepper flakes. Cook just until the tomatoes begin to soften and release their juices, about two minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the skillet from heat.
- 5
Cook the pasta
Drop the pasta into the boiling water. Stir once to prevent sticking. Cook until just shy of al dente, about one minute less than the package suggests. The pasta will finish cooking in the pan with the vegetables. Reserve one cup of the starchy cooking water before you drain.
- 6
Bring it together
Return the skillet to medium heat. Add the drained pasta directly to the vegetables. Pour in half the reserved pasta water and toss everything together vigorously for one to two minutes. The starch in the water creates a light sauce that clings. Add more pasta water if it seems dry. The dish should look glossy, alive.
Toss with confidence. The agitation emulsifies the oil and starchy water into a sauce that coats rather than pools at the bottom. - 7
Finish and serve immediately
Remove from heat. Add the Parmesan, torn basil, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Toss once more. Taste. Adjust salt if needed. Divide among warm bowls. Drizzle with more olive oil, scatter more Parmesan over the top. Serve while everything still has its aliveness. This dish does not wait.
Chef Tips
- •Buy your vegetables the day you plan to cook them. Asparagus loses its sweetness within hours of cutting. Peas convert their sugars to starch as they sit. Freshness is not optional here.
- •If spring is not yet giving you these vegetables, do not make this dish. Wait. Seasonal eating is anticipation. Make something with what the season offers now.
- •A good Parmesan, aged at least twenty-four months, brings salt and depth without drowning the vegetables. Grate it yourself. Pre-grated cheese contains anti-caking agents that prevent it from melting properly.
- •Save asparagus stems for vegetable stock. The woody ends still have flavor to give.
Advance Preparation
- •Wash and cut all vegetables up to four hours ahead. Store in a damp towel in the refrigerator to keep them crisp.
- •This dish is best eaten immediately. It does not reheat well. The vegetables lose their brightness and the pasta absorbs the sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 475g)
Calories
740 calories
Total Fat
23 g
Saturated Fat
7 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
16 g
Cholesterol
20 mg
Sodium
670 mg
Total Carbohydrates
103 g
Dietary Fiber
10 g
Sugars
8 g
Protein
31 g
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