Tag: pasta primavera
Pasta Primavera with Wine Sauce
Meatless Monday continues with this delicious pasta primavera I made with a wine sauce. I served it on top of healthy whole wheat spaghetti! It was yum!
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 1 cup Cremini mushrooms, cleaned and chopped into quarters
- 1 cup Shiitake mushrooms, cleaned and chopped into 2 inch pieces
- 1 medium red pepper, chopped
- Salt
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 cup zucchini, chopped
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 3 cups homemade or store brought tomato sauce
- ½ pound whole wheat spaghetti, cooked al dente
- Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
Heat a large frying pan with the butter and oil. Add the thyme and both the mushrooms. Saute on medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the red pepper, salt and garlic. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes and add the zucchini. Saute for a minute and transfer the vegetables to a plate. Deglaze with wine and scrape all the brown bits off and cook the wine down to about half a cup. Add the tomato sauce and bring to a boil and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Add the vegetables back and check for seasonings. Serve on top of spaghetti and top with cheese.
Pasta Primavera with Roasted Vegetables
Yummy and healthy dish for Meatless Monday!!
- 2 cups zucchini, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 large red pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 to 4 garlic cloves, with skin on
- Olive oil
- Salt
Place the vegetables and garlic on to a line cookie sheet. Drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle some salt. Mix well and roast in a 400 degrees oven for 30 minutes. Take out and let cool. Slide the garlic out of the skins and mash with fork.
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cups fresh or store bought tomato sauce
- ½ cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1 cup roasted corn
- ½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- Salt
- ½ pound pasta of choice, cooked al dente and 1 cup spare pasta water
Heat a large frying pan with the olive oil. Add the onion and sauté on medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, basil and the roasted garlic. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the corn and the roasted vegetables. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the cheese and pasta. Mix well and add the spare pasta water if needed. Check for seasonings and add salt.
Pasta with Roasted Vegetables
This is a really delicious one…. it is hard to remember it is made without any meat. One of my husband’s favorite pasta dishes is pasta primavera. It is typically made with seasonal vegetables, a delicious marinara sauce and pasta of choice. I have made many different versions of it over the years but I have to say, this one is my favorite.
I roasted some red pepper, squash and zucchini with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roasting vegetables brings out the nutty, sweetness which is delicious in this dish. I mixed the veggies in a mixture of pesto and homemade marinara sauce. To make even more different, I tossed the pasta with some chopped fresh mozzarella.
I then roasted the dish in the oven till the cheese became soft and oozy. I served it with some delicious garlic bread and a yummy red wine… and we did not miss the meat…
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Pasta Primavera Topped With Arugula Pesto
This recipe is a combination of two things I had in Italy. The second night there we went to a local wine bar. It had fabulous wines and light fare. We ordered a couple platters of bruschetta which were delicious. Each platter had a 4 pieces of bread with different toppings- none of them had diced tomatoes- which is what I think of when someone mentions bruschetta. Each of the toppings were yummy but one stood out clearly. It was a arugula and almond pesto- I know this because I asked the owner for the ingredients. I wrote them down and made a mental note to make this as soon as I got back to NJ.
The last day of our trip was spent in Rome. We ate dinner at a small trattoria and my husband ordered pasta primavera. Here, when he orders that dish, he is used to getting a plate of pasta with lots of veggies in a tomato sauce. In Rome he got a plate of fresh pasta in a chunky tomato sauce topped with a mound of fresh arugula and mozzarella cheese. It was delicious!
This creation is a combination of the arugula pesto and the pasta dish. I made a typical pasta primavera- which my husband loves; but I topped it with fresh arugula and mozzarella cheese mixed with the arugula pesto. It was really really good- if I do say so myself! The arugula pesto is absolutely out of this world. The slight bitterness comes through but is contrasted really well with the creaminess of the almonds and the olive oil.
Even if you don’t try the pasta, definitely try the pesto. Speaking of pasta- you can definitely use the pesto for a pasta dish- I bet it will be delicious! In fact I will try it and let you know!
- 2 small zucchinis cut into ½ inch dice
- 1 cup cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups tomato sauce
- Salt
- 1 pound fresh pasta, cooked al dente
- Pinch of sugar
In a large frying pan, add the olive oil and heat on medium high heat. Add the zucchini and mushrooms. Saute on high heat for 5 to 6 minutes or till the vegetables are soft and golden brown. Add the tomato sauce, sugar and salt.
Cook on medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the fresh pasta and mix well and check for seasonings.
- 2 cups fresh baby arugula
- 1 cup fresh ciliegine mozzarella (small balls)
Arugula Pesto with Almonds
- 3 cups fresh baby arugula
- 1 cup sliced blanched almonds
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons slat
In a food processor, add the almonds and process till fine. Add the arugula and start the processing. While the arugula is processing, slowly drizzle the olive oil. Take out in a bowl and add the salt. Check for seasonings.
Take a cup of mozzarella and mix ½ cup of arugula pesto and the fresh arugula and keep aside.
Serve the pasta with ½ a cup of the arugula mozzarella mixture on top.
Day Eight- Part Spello and Part Rome
Day eight was our last in Spello. The day before I was busy shopping for things to take home. While I was at the local supermarket, I found these cookie like confections. We had tried them earlier through the week and I wanted to eat them one last time before we left. I bought them for breakfast on our last day.
I woke up the next day and got ready and did some last minute packing. I was sad to leave Spello but very excited to be in Rome and ultimately home. No matter where we go I am always very happy to be home. Nothing like your own familiar surroundings and your own bed!
I came down to the kitchen and started breakfast. I made coffee in the similar contraption as what I have at home. This was the first time I didn’t travel with mine. I remember walking into the kitchen the first time in the Spello apartment and smiling as I saw the coffee maker.
I had my coffee and the delicious cookie like cakes covered with sugar and stuffed with a chocolate marzipan filling. They look like mini doughnuts but taste a lot better. I wanted to pack some and take home but I settled on two for breakfast.
After breakfast we headed to Rome. It took us a while to drop our luggage off to the hotel and then return our car. As we drove into Rome, I realized it had been almost 10 years since I had been to this lovely old city. It made me nostalgic as I looked around- it reminded me of Delhi.
We finally got everything done and took a bus to the old part of Rome across the Tiber- Trastevere. It is a section that is a mix between Soho and old Barcelona. It has small cobblestone streets full of restaurants and funky, upscale shops. We walked around and settled on a Trattoria with seating outside. Dinner consisted of lasagna, pasta primavera which was unlike the one we get in the US. This was mostly tomato sauce and pasta, topped with fresh arugula and chunks of fresh mozzarella cheese. It was delicious! I had a rigatoni with sausage in a cheese and cream sauce- very yummy!
After dinner we walked some more and took a bus to the colosseum. What a beautiful structure- especially at night.
It was a very brief stay in Rome- I am glad we did it. It reminded me how I really enjoyed visiting this city last time and how I would like to come back very soon.