One-Pot Pasta Primavera

This One-Pot Pasta Primavera is a big bowl of pasta loaded with mixed vegetables that gets tossed in a simple butter, garlic, & herb sauce. When it’s all finished cooking, the entire skillet gets mixed with grated parmesan to give it another level of flavor.

One-Pot Pasta Primavera

Pasta primavera is a break from heavier Italian dishes and sauces like alfredo, scampi, or even a parmigiana dish. Its focus is instead largely on the vegetables you choose to use.

Truth be told, I used to not like Pasta Primavera too much as a kid. It was so simple, and I wasn’t interested in eating so many vegetables with my pasta! But now, I came to appreciate how nuanced it can taste with sauteed vegetables and a flavorful sauce.

I will say though, using your favorite vegetables really makes all the difference. If you throw a bunch of vegetables in that you’re not crazy about you probably will end up just eating the pasta around it!

However, there is also the off chance that if you take good care with seasoning and sauteing them, you might just find you like them! Plus, this butter and herb sauce is so delicious that it might actually change your mind about any vegetables you’re not a fan of.

Another great thing about this dinner is that it’s so flexible, we eat it on the weekdays and also on weekends. It’s meatless, so it’s perfect for a vegetarian night or serving a large group of people who may have different diet preferences.

It comes together fairly quickly and you can make it in bulk to eat as leftovers if you wanted to. All of that makes it friendly for every day of the week.

WHAT DOES PRIMAVERA MEAN?

Primavera in Italian means spring. So, Pasta Primavera is a pasta dish that’s loaded with all the abundant vegetables spring has to offer. It has a light butter or olive oil-based sauce.

WHAT IS PRIMAVERA SAUCE MADE OF?

Typically, primavera sauce is made with an olive oil base, water or broth, grated parmesan, and occasionally a touch of cream.

The sauce in this dish, however, is made from butter and reserved pasta water, a bunch of herbs and garlic, and finally grated parmesan. It’s so simple and yet it coats all of the pasta and vegetables with really nice flavor that borders on browned butter.

Though it pulls the whole dish together, the focus is definitely on the abundance of vegetables, which is a little different for your classic Italian meal.

OTHER PASTA DISHES YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

• Sausage & Eggplant Linguine
• Spring Risotto
• Lighter Fettucine Alfredo
• Easy Pesto Pasta with Chicken
• Ziti with Sausage & Broccoli Rabe

HOW TO MAKE ONE-POT PASTA PRIMAVERA

Start this recipe out by making sure to prep all of your ingredients. It moves kind of quickly and it's easier when everything is ready to be tossed in. Here’s a quick overview of how this recipe comes together, refer to the recipe card at the bottom for full directions:

1. While you sauté your vegetables, make the pasta
2. Start cooking the vegetables by sauteing your mushrooms and asparagus.
3. Next add in shallots, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes
4. Drain the pasta (reserving 1 cup water) and add it to the vegetable skillet
5. Make the butter and herb sauce in the pasta pot
6. Stir everything together & finally mix with grated or shaved parmesan

INGREDIENTS

• Pasta type – I used gemelli here because I love the texture difference against the vegetables. Other types that would go great are rigatoni, fusilli, penne, or bowties
• Butter – the recipe calls for whipped butter because whipped butter is lower in calories and fat. Its just regular butter that gets whipped and thus creates an airy, lighter butter.
• Vegetables – You can play around with your own favorite variation of vegetables, I wanted to make something that was a cross between traditional and nontraditional. This included zucchini, mushrooms, shallot, cherry tomatoes (or sundried if you have them), and asparagus.
  • Other vegetables that could be included in a primavera are bell peppers, carrots, peas, green beans, or broccoli

NUTRITION

Because of all the vegetables, this dinner has about 1.5 servings of vegetables in each serving. There are 407 calories, 9 grams fat, 65 grams carbs, 14 grams protein. Its also loaded with iron and potassium and has a good deal of calcium as well.

DOES PRIMAVERA HEAT UP WELL?

If you are making extra to reheat later, make a double batch of sauce and leave on the side to not mix in with stored pasta or the pasta will absorb the sauce. If you have leftovers, reheat on the stove with an additional tbsp of unsalted whipped butter ½ cup chicken broth. This should revive the pasta from being dry.

AS ALWAYS, IF YOU MAKE THIS – PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW!

Print

One-Pot Pasta Primavera

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword Pasta, Primavera, Vegetables

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 lb gemelli
• 1 ½ tbsp olive oil
• Mushrooms 10-20 ounces largely cut
• 1 cup 1" pieces asparagus
• 2 shallots minced
• 2 zucchini cut into small cubes
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced in half
• ¼ cup fresh basil
• 3 tbsp whipped butter
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 cup reserved pasta water
• ½ cup grated parmesan

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When boiling, add the gemelli and cook until desired tenderness 8-10 minutes. Drain the pasta, but reserve 1 cup of the water and set aside.
2. Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Drizzle the olive oil into the pan and add the mushrooms and the asparagus. Saute for 5-8 minutes.
3. Next add in the shallot and zucchini. Season with salt and pepper to taste and saute for another 5-8 minutes. Add in the cherry tomatoes and continue to saute until everything is tender. Turn the heat off. Tear the fresh basil over the skillet.
4. Add the cooked pasta to the vegetable skillet and mix together.
5. Reheat the same pot the pasta cooked in on medium. Add in 3 tbsp of the butter and melt. When the butter starts to turn frothy, add in the minced garlic and brown lightly.
6. Add in the dried oregano, parsley, garlic powder, and cup of reserved pasta water. Stir together and bring everything to a boil, then lower heat and continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes. Pour the sauce all over the pasta and vegetable skillet.
7. Stir the entire skillet together so that the sauce goes evenly over everything. Finally, with the heat still off, stir in the parmesan.

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