Creamy Penne Pasta Primavera
Learn how to make Classic Pasta Primavera with home-grown tomatoes, asparagus and spinach.Pasta primavera is a very light pasta that’s full of spring vegetables.
How To Make Creamy Pasta Primavera
You will need halved cherry or grape tomatoes, some chopped marinated artichoke hearts, and of course, a little bit of garlic, half of the Half red onion, thinly sliced, 1 cup of frozen peas, and some asparagus.
But of course, you can always customize the vegetables that you use according to your own personal taste preferences.
If you’re using asparagus, I recommend using thin stalks, and you’ll want to trim that into 2-inch pieces.
Grab 1 pound of penne pasta, and head on over to the stove. Cook the pasta according to the package directions, and for this penne, it looks like it will take about 11-12 minutes.
Then in a large heavy skillet, you’ll want to heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat.
Then we’ll add in our thinly sliced red onion, and our asparagus, and get that cooking until their tender-crisp. It’ll take about 5-7 minutes for these vegetables to start to soften.
Once those soften up a bit we’ll add in 1 cup of frozen peas, 1 cup of diced artichoke hearts, 1 cup of halved grape or cherry tomatoes, and about 6 cloves of minced garlic.
And we really just want to heat it through, so let it saute for 1-2 minutes. Then you’ll want to turn off the heat, and at this point, your pasta should be ready.
So go ahead and drain it, and then go ahead and pour your pasta in with your veggies.
We’re gonna drizzle the pasta with about 2 tablespoons more of that extra virgin olive oil, drizzle on 3 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice, and we’ll add on 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, and toss this all together.
Then all that’s left to do is season with a little bit of salt and black pepper to taste. Then you are ready to eat.
This is a meatless meal, however if you wanted to add some meat, I would cook up my famous super easy lemon chicken breasts. It would pair really well with this pasta.
Creamy Penne Pasta Primavera
- Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 pound penne pasta
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (divided)
- 1/2 red onion thinly (sliced)
- 1 cup asparagus (trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces)
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes (halved)
- 1 cup artichoke hearts
- 6 to 8 garlic cloves (minced)
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley (for garnish)
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions.
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in red onion and asparagus and saute 5 to 7 minutes until asparagus is tender crisp.
- Add in peas, tomatoes, and artichoke hearts and stir briefly until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add in garlic and cook 1 minute more. Remove from heat.
- Add in pasta and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, and parmesan until cheese is melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot with freshly chopped parsley to garnish.
Notes
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: PASTA
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Calories: 470
Keywords: Pasta Primavera