A Spring Vegetable Pasta

Pasta made light and simple with flavorful tastes of the spring season - asparagus, peas, zucchini and mushrooms! A delicious and quick meal, perfect for busy week-nights!

Make pasta light by adding an abundance of fresh vegetables, a few frozen ones and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. The thing with pasta is that its often doused in a heavy cream sauce, stuffed with a suspicious cheese concoction or just has too much going on.   

Enjoying the warmth and lightness of the spring, I crave dishes that sing with flavor and are light on the stomach. Mimicking the essence of spring, add a rainbow of vegetables and top with delicate olive oil - wrapping the pasta in a touch of lightness that won’t weight you down. Savory asparagus and juicy zucchinis are sautéed in a light bath of tomatoes. At the very end, top with tender crimini mushrooms and peas for even more vegetable goodness. The beauty of this dish is in the simplicity of each flavor – subtle enjoy to be enjoyed on their own but even better when scooped with another. This is a dish that I have already fallen loyal to this spring season – quick enough to make in less than 20 minutes, all while serving and satisfying the best of friends and family.

Serves: 5-6

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients for the Spring Pasta:

- 1/2 cup of tomatoes (jarred or canned – I used about 4 tomatoes from a San Marzano can)

- 3 zucchini or yellow squash

- 1 bunch of asparagus

- 3/4 cup frozen peas

- 1 small basket of mushrooms (I like crimini)

- 3/4 bag of brown rice pasta

- sea salt

- 4 tablespoons olive oil

- 4 garlic cloves

- chili flakes

Instructions:

Start by boiling the water for the pasta - follow the instructions on the pasta box and add 1 tablespoon of sea salt to the water.

 Now in a large saucepan on the lowest heat, warm a few tablespoons of olive oil. After a few minutes, add the roughly chopped garlic cloves. As this warms, chop the zucchini and mushrooms into quarters. Snap off the ends of the asparagus (and discard) and cut the rest into 1/3 pieces. With the heat on medium add the tomatoes, chili flakes, asparagus and zucchini to the pan with a generous sprinkling of sea salt. Add a few tablespoons of the tomato puree that’s in the jar to keep the sauce moist. If the sauce becomes dry as the veggies cook, add a splash of water. I like to keep the cover over the pan the entire time I cook the veggies. Cook this for about 15 minutes and then stir in the mushrooms and peas. Cook for another 5 minutes and let this sit while you cook your pasta. Pour on top of the pasta with a drizzle of olive oil and enjoy!

Hope you guys love this pasta! I seriously haven't been able to stop making it all week - my sister's boyfriend (definitely not a veggie lover) snuck and ate the leftovers! I swear you will absolutely love how easy and delicious it is! 

Would love for you to share your creations with me on instagram at #8thandlake

xx Marie