Recipe video above. This is the Pasta Primavera recipe made famous by Le Cirque restaurant in NYC. It was first published in a magazine in the 1970's! This is an excellent big creamy pasta fix with less guilt thanks to a ton of vegetables. The trick here is timing so that all the vegetables finish cooking to tender-crisp perfection at the same time. Don't skip the pine nuts. It's the signature finishing touch.Counting calories? See note 1 on how to lighten the dish.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time20 minutesmins
Course: Mains
Cuisine: American-Italian
Keyword: pasta primavera, spring recipe, Vegetable Pasta
Servings: 4
Calories: 874cal
Author: Nagi
Ingredients
300g / 10 ozlinguine(fettucine, or other long and flat pasta, Note 1)
Broccolini - Cut off florets then cut in half lengthwise. Then slice the stems diagonally into 2.5 cm / 1" lengths.
Snow peas - Remove the tough string running down the "seam" of the pea. Stack several peas and slice on the diagonal about 1cm / 0.4" wide.
Asparagus - Snap the base off the asparagus, it will naturally break where the woody stem stars. Cut tips off, leave whole and set aside. Slice the stems diagonally into 2.5 cm / 1" lengths.
Cream Sauce:
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cream and Parmigiano reggiano. Stir, and once the cream starts simmering gently, stir until the cheese melts then take it off the stove and set aside.
Pasta:
Bring a large pot of water to the boil over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and add the pasta. Cook for the time per the packet minus 1 minute. Meanwhile, cook vegetables.
Reserve pasta water: Just before draining the pasta, scoop out a mug of pasta cooking water and set aside. Drain the pasta.
Cook:
Mushrooms: Heat half the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Cook mushrooms for 4 minutes until golden, remove to a plate.
Veg: Heat remaining oil in the same skillet. Cook broccolini, snow peas and asparagus for 2 minutes. Add zucchini, tomato, green peas, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook for a further 3 minutes. Add mushroom back in, toss, then remove from heat.
Toss! Return pasta into the now-empty pot. Add vegetables, cream sauce and 1/3 cup pasta water. Toss over medium heat using 2 wooden spoons until the sauce thickens and clings to the pasta strands rather than pooling in the base of the pot, about 1 to 2 minutes. (If at any stage the pasta gets too thick, add a splash more pasta water and toss on stove).
Basil & pine nuts - Quickly toss through basil. Divide between 4 bowls. Sprinkle with pine nuts. Devour immediately!
Notes
"Can I make a lighter version?" This is the original restaurant recipe from Le Cirque so it's unapologetically indulgent and delivers restaurant-style richness and flavour. To reduce calories, adjust as follows:
Skip butter in Cream Sauce
Skip all the oil
Use 3 tbsp / 50g butter instead of oil for sautéing the vegetables
Per serve nutrition: 145 calorie reduction, 17g less fat.
Still very, very tasty but not quite as luscious – of course!1. Pasta - Use any long strand pasta you want. Short pasta (like penne) also works.2. Vegetables - Feel free to substitute as you wish, make this your own! Either use other spring vegetables, or if you're in a different season use whatever is seasonal. See in post for substitutions.3. Cream - Any full fat cream will work just fine here. Low fat will work but the end result won't be as luscious and the sauce will be thinner.4. Parmigiano reggiano - Finely grate using microplane so it melts smoothly! Substitute with regular grade parmesan. Do not use store bought pre-grated parmesan as it won't melt in the sauce.5. No fresh basil? It's still worth making! I like to add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice instead, to compensate with a different type of freshness.6. Starchy pasta cooking water - The secret to thickening the cream sauce so it clings to every pasta strand and ends up in your mouth rather than a watery pool in the bottom of your bowl.7. Toasted pine nuts - Toss raw pine nuts in a small skillet (no oil) over medium heat until it has light golden spots and smells nutty, about 2 minutes.8. Nutrition per serving and worth every calorie, and remember there is lots of veg in this! But see top of Notes for how to lighten it up.