This Vegetarian Pasta Primavera is a light, quick, and delicious dish, perfect for busy weeknights! It can be easily adapted to whatever vegetables you have at hand.
Pasta Primavera is a delicious dish that celebrates the flavors of spring vegetables! The term primavera stands for ‘spring vegetables’! I see no reason why this veggie pasta primavera cannot be enjoyed throughout the year. It’s loaded with the goodness of veggies. For a healthy pasta primavera, use lentil or whole wheat pasta.
Pasta Primavera is a dish of Italian origin, with an American touch! if you’d like to know more about how this dish originated, you can read it here.
My version of pasta primavera is light and delicious , it has no cream , making it a very satisfying meal! All the deliciousness lies in the beautiful, sweet flavor of the veggies. I’ve added a bit of red pepper flakes for that slight kick, which you may feel free to skip.
I love to keep the veggies chunky here, for a simple reason I love the bite of the veggies along with the pasta, and secondly, they do not get all mushy as they would if cut very fine. You can totally adapt this easy pasta primavera recipe to customize it to your liking. You can also add cream if you wish, or a bit of marinara sauce as well. Traditionally this dish uses spaghetti, but I’ve used penne pasta, you may use fettuccine, linguine, tortellini, capellini, rigatoni, fusilli, tagliatelle, orecchiette, ziti, etc or any other pasta of your choice.
- STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE NO-CREAM PASTA PRIMAVERA WITH SAUTEED VEGETABLES | PENNE PRIMAVERA
- HOW TO MAKE PASTA PRIMAVERA | NO-CREAM PENNE PRIMAVERA?
- No-Cream Pasta Primavera Recipe | Vegetarian Pasta Primavera
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE NO-CREAM PASTA PRIMAVERA WITH SAUTEED VEGETABLES | PENNE PRIMAVERA
1.Cook pasta as per package instructions. Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water and set aside. Drain pasta in a colander, apply some oil and set aside. In the meanwhile dice all your veggies and set aside.
2.Heat olive oil and butter in a heavy bottomed pan, add onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Saute on medium, heat for about 3-5 minutes until the mushrooms and onions are tender. Do not brown the garlic or onion.
3.Next add in the diced zucchini, yellow squash and bell peppers. Saute for about 5-7 minutes until the veggies are tender. Do not make them mushy. Depending on how big or small you have cut them, the veggies may take more or less time to cook. Try and maintain a uniform size for all of them.
4.Next add in tomatoes, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, freshly ground pepper and chopped basil. Cook for another 2 minutes until tomatoes are tender but not mushy.
5.Add in reserved pasta water. Let it cook until it heats through. Check for salt and adjust accordingly.
6.Toss in the pasta along with lemon juice. Mix well, switch off the heat. Sprinkle some more olive oil if desired & grated parmesan cheese before serving.
NOTES
1.Feel free to add any vegetable to this dish. I added whatever I had in my refrigerator.
2.Adjust the seasonings as per your taste.
3.If you have time to spare, you can roast the vegetables with salt, pepper, olive oil, fresh herbs until tender (@400 F for 20-25 minutes, tossing them once in between), and then add them to the pasta after sautéing onion, mushrooms, and garlic. The caramelized veggies add an amazing flavor to the dish.
4.For another delicious variation, make pesto primavera , stir in a tablespoon or 2 of pesto after mixing the penne with the veggies.
- You can also add some rotisserie chicken if you wish to make chicken pasta primavera.
HOW TO MAKE PASTA PRIMAVERA | NO-CREAM PENNE PRIMAVERA?
No-Cream Pasta Primavera Recipe | Vegetarian Pasta Primavera
Ingredients1x2x3x
Measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml
- 8 oz penne pasta
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup chopped onions
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1 & 1/2 cup diced yellow squash
- 3/4 cup diced zucchini
- 1 cup cubed bell peppers
- 1/2 cup roughly diced Roma tomatoes/cherry tomatoes/ tomatoes of your choice
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, adjust as per desired heat, optional
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 8-10 nos. fresh Basil leaves, substitute with 1 tsp dried basil
- 1/4 cup reserved pasta water/water/vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper, to season
Instructions
- Cook pasta as per package instructions. Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water and set aside. Drain pasta in a colander, apply some oil and set aside. In the meanwhile dice all your veggies and set aside.
- Heat olive oil and butter in a heavy bottomed pan, add onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Saute on medium, heat for about 3-5 minutes until the mushrooms and onions are tender. Do not brown the garlic or onion.
- Next add in the diced zucchini, yellow squash and bell peppers. Saute for about 5-7 minutes until the veggies are tender. Do not make them mushy. Depending on how big or small you have cut them, the veggies may take more or less time to cook. Try and maintain a uniform size for all of them.
- Next add in tomatoes, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, freshly ground pepper and chopped basil. Cook for another 2 minutes until tomatoes are tender but not mushy.
- Add in reserved pasta water. Let it cook until it heats through. Check for salt and adjust accordingly.
- Toss in the pasta along with lemon juice. Mix well, switch off the heat. Sprinkle some more olive oil if desired & grated parmesan cheese before serving.
Notes
- Feel free to add any vegetable to this dish. I added whatever I had in my refrigerator.
- Adjust the seasonings as per your taste.
- If you have time to spare, you can roast the vegetables with salt, pepper, olive oil, fresh herbs until tender (@400 F for 20-25 minutes, tossing them once in between), and then add them to the pasta after sautéing onion, mushrooms, and garlic. The caramelized veggies add an amazing flavor to the dish.
- For another delicious variation, make pesto primavera , stir in a tablespoon or 2 of pesto after mixing the penne with the veggies.
- You can also add some rotisserie chicken if you wish to make chicken pasta primavera.
I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to share your feedback with photos and suggestions to me at aromaticessence77@gmail.com
You can also follow me on :
Regards,
Freda
No-Cream Pasta Primavera Recipe | Vegetarian Pasta Primavera
Ingredients
Measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml
- 8 oz penne pasta
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup chopped onions
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1 & 1/2 cup diced yellow squash
- 3/4 cup diced zucchini
- 1 cup cubed bell peppers
- 1/2 cup roughly diced Roma tomatoes/cherry tomatoes/ tomatoes of your choice
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, adjust as per desired heat, optional
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 8-10 nos. fresh Basil leaves, substitute with 1 tsp dried basil
- 1/4 cup reserved pasta water/water/vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper, to season
Instructions
- Cook pasta as per package instructions. Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water and set aside. Drain pasta in a colander, apply some oil and set aside. In the meanwhile dice all your veggies and set aside.
- Heat olive oil and butter in a heavy bottomed pan, add onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Saute on medium, heat for about 3-5 minutes until the mushrooms and onions are tender. Do not brown the garlic or onion.
- Next add in the diced zucchini, yellow squash and bell peppers. Saute for about 5-7 minutes until the veggies are tender. Do not make them mushy. Depending on how big or small you have cut them, the veggies may take more or less time to cook. Try and maintain a uniform size for all of them.
- Next add in tomatoes, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, freshly ground pepper and chopped basil. Cook for another 2 minutes until tomatoes are tender but not mushy.
- Add in reserved pasta water. Let it cook until it heats through. Check for salt and adjust accordingly.
- Toss in the pasta along with lemon juice. Mix well, switch off the heat. Sprinkle some more olive oil if desired & grated parmesan cheese before serving.
Notes
- Feel free to add any vegetable to this dish. I added whatever I had in my refrigerator.
- Adjust the seasonings as per your taste.
- If you have time to spare, you can roast the vegetables with salt, pepper, olive oil, fresh herbs until tender (@400 F for 20-25 minutes, tossing them once in between), and then add them to the pasta after sautéing onion, mushrooms, and garlic. The caramelized veggies add an amazing flavor to the dish.
- For another delicious variation, make pesto primavera , stir in a tablespoon or 2 of pesto after mixing the penne with the veggies.
- You can also add some rotisserie chicken if you wish to make chicken pasta primavera.
A classic Goan appetizer, squids (calamari) stuffed with the fiery and tangy recheado masala paste. Learn how to make Goan stuffed squids in this recipe .
Stuffed squids aka calamari are a classic and popular Goan appetizer! You will find it on the menu of most Goan beach shacks. It is stuffed with a mix of sauteed onions and chopped tentacles cooked in the fiery and tangy Goan recheado masala paste.
You gotta try this Goan stuffed squids if you haven’t already! If you have the recheado masala paste , you don’t require other ingredients to make this dish. It is fairly easy, quick and delicious all at once. If you love seafood and have a spicy palate, then this won’t disappoint.
- STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE GOAN STUFFED SQUIDS
- HOW TO MAKE GOAN STUFFED SQUIDS?
- Goan Stuffed Squids With Recheado Masala
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE GOAN STUFFED SQUIDS
1.Clean the squids well, separate the tentacles, chop it into small pieces and set aside.
2.Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet. add chopped onions, saute until translucent.
3.Add the recheado masala paste, saute for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
4.Add the chopped tentacles, salt to taste and a pinch of sugar, mix well and cook on medium-low heat until all the moisture evaporates and the mixture becomes dry, stirring occasionally. Let the mixture cool down a bit to proceed with the stuffing.
5.Stuff the squid with the above mixture, secure the mouth with a toothpick or with a needle and thread like we did.
6.Heat the remaining oil in a pressure cooker , add the stuffed squids, close the cooker, pressure cook on medium heat for about 4 whistles or 6-7 whistles if the squids are bigger. Switch off the heat, once the pressure settles down, open the cooker.
7.You will see some liquid, put the cooker back on heat (without the lid), cook on medium heat until the liquid thickens and coats the squids. Do not cook for long or else the squids will turn rubbery. ( If you do not have a pressure cook, cook in a regular pot for 7- 10 minutes until the squids are cooked through and tender). Serve as an appetizer or as a side with rice/pulao and curry.
HOW TO MAKE GOAN STUFFED SQUIDS?
Goan Stuffed Squids With Recheado Masala
Ingredients1x2x3x
Measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml
- 14 oz/396 grams squids/calamari
- 1 cup finely chopped onions
- 3 to 4 tbsp recheado masala paste
- Pinch of sugar
- Salt to taste
- 1 & 1/2 tbsp oil
Instructions
- Clean the squids well, separate the tentacles, chop it into small pieces and set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet. add chopped onions, saute until translucent.
- Add the recheado masala paste, saute for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
- Add the chopped tentacles, salt to taste and a pinch of sugar, mix well and cook on medium-low heat until all the moisture evaporates and the mixture becomes dry, stirring occasionally. Let the mixture cool down a bit to proceed with the stuffing.
- Stuff the squid with the above mixture, secure the mouth with a toothpick or with a needle and thread like we did.
- Heat the remaining oil in a pressure cooker, add the stuffed squids, close the cooker, pressure cook on medium heat for about 4 whistles or 6-7 whistles if the squids are bigger. Switch off the heat, once the pressure settles down, open the cooker.
- You will see some liquid, put the cooker back on heat (without the lid), cook on medium heat until the liquid thickens and coats the squids. Do not cook for long or else the squids will turn rubbery. ( If you do not have a pressure cooker, cook in a regular pot for 7- 10 minutes until the squids are cooked through and tender). Serve as an appetizer or as a side with rice/pulao and curry.
I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to share your feedback with photos and suggestions to me at aromaticessence77@gmail.com
You can also follow me on :
Facebook @ Aromaticessence
Pinterest @ Aromatic Essence
Instagram @ aromatic_essence77
Twitter @ freda_dias
Regards,
Freda
