You don’t have to have a laundry list of specific spring vegetables to make this work; use your judgment about what’s in season and which taste good together, and go from there.
Ingredients
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
- ½ teaspoon red chile flakes, or to taste
- 1½ pounds mixed spring vegetables (like asparagus, spinach or other
- tender greens, snap peas, snow peas, radishes, baby carrots or
- turnips, shelled fava beans, or peas), chopped
- Pepper
- ½ cup cream
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 pound any pasta
- ½ cup chopped fresh chervil or mint for garnish
How to Make It
- Bring a large pot of water to boil and salt it. Put the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the red chile flakes and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add the vegetables and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are crisp-tender, 3 to 10 minutes, depending on the vegetables (add any vegetables with a much longer cooking time, like root vegetables, 5 minutes before the rest). Add the cream and ¼ cup of the Parmesan, and cook until heated through and thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- When the water comes to a boil, add the pasta. Stir occasionally, and start tasting the pasta after 5 minutes. When the pasta is tender but not mushy, drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the vegetables and turn the heat to low. Toss to combine, adding a little reserved cooking water at a time to loosen the sauce, if necessary. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Garnish with the herbs and the remaining Parmesan and serve.
- PASTA ESTATE Same idea using summertime vegetables: Use 1½ pounds of mixed seasonal produce like fresh corn kernels, cherry tomatoes, green beans, bell peppers, or zucchini. Use basil for the garnish.
- PASTA AUTUNNO Grate or chop any hard vegetables so they cook fast: Use Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and squash like butternut, spaghetti, or delicata. Garnish with parsley or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme.
- PASTA INVERNO A northern Italian spin: Use shredded green or Savoy cabbage and chopped potatoes for the vegetables and fontina in place of the Parmesan. Garnish with toasted walnuts (see page 299).
