Last week, I was talking about “early summer” fruits and veggies, so here I made something with some of my favorites: asparagus, peas and snow peas. Added a light pesto sauce (my fallback when I don’t know what else to make), and voila! A great little lunch or dinner and a really simple, straight forward recipe. What are you making with those fresh fruits and veggies out there?
Ingredients
1 box bow tie (farfalle) pasta (any short, spoon-sized pasta works; I just like farfalle for this one)
1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup snow peas, trimmed
1/2 cup asparagus, cut to 1 1/2 inch lengths
1/4 cup prepared basil pesto (store bought is fine)
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
fresh basil, to garnish
Parmesan, to garnish
Directions
In a pot full of boiling water, cook the pasta to box directions for al dente. At the same time, you can steam your vegetables, which will take less time. They should only be cooked until just tender and remain vibrantly green.
In a medium pan, combine pesto, cream and a healthy grind of pepper. Just as your pasta is done cooking, reserve 1/2 of the cooking water. Bring the pesto-cream mixture to a simmer, drain the pasta and put pack in the pot. Add the steamed veggies and pesto sauce and stir well. If the mixture is too thick, add a few tablespoons of the reserved pasta cooking water. Serve immediately with fresh Parmesan and basil.
