Pasta Primavera

My husband recently gave me some fabulous new cookbooks for Mother's Day. One of them is The Family Kitchen by Debra Ponzek. It is full of recipes that parents and kids can enjoy and make together. At the bottom of each recipe it has ideas for jobs that kids can help with to make the dish. I have so many memories of helping my Mom in the kitchen and hope that I can do the same with my children. My kids were awesome helpers, cutting the tomatoes, breaking the asparagus, grating the cheese. Even my three year old helped with the measuring. Tonight it was Pasta Primavera. Lots of fresh, healthy veggies in a light,creamy sauce. If you're worried about the cream in this recipe, don't be. It was really light tasting because there was so much pasta and veggies mixed in. The only change I made was to add a few tablespoons of cornstarch in the end because the sauce didn't seem thick enough to me. If you don't have angel hair pasta you could easily use another type of pasta.

Pasta Primavera
Debra Ponzek

1 Tbsp. Canola Oil
3 garlic cloves, sliced
3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced (I used baby carrots and sliced them)
24 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock or low sodium broth
1 lb. angel hair pasta
Olive Oil
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3 cups broccoli florets
2 cups sugar snap peas
8 asparagus spears, stalks trimmed and peeled, cut into thirds
3 tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and Ground Pepper

IN a large saute pan, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat until almost shimmering. Add the garlic and saute for about 1 minute, or until lightly golden brown. Add the carrots and half of the tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes until the carrots begin to soften.
Add the stock, bring to a boil, immeadiately reduce the heat, and simmer for 10-12 minutes to reduce slightly.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to the package directions so that the pasta is al dente. Drain, drizzle with olive oil (I used about 1 tbsp.) and set aside until needed.
Add the heavy cream to the reduced stock in teh saute pan and bring the liquid to a boil over medium high heat. Add the broccoli, sugar snap peas, and asparagus and the remaining tomatoes.
Reduce the heat and simmer the sauce for about 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened and the vegetables are tender. (If the veggies are tender and the sauce still seems to thin, remove the veggies from the dish with a slotted spoon and add a tablespoon or two of cornstarch until thick then add veggies back in). Add the grated cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Transfer the pasta to a large serving bowl and toss with the primavera sauce. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Serve Immeadiately. Serves 6-8

Posted by: Sallie