Pasta Primavera
=============== 2022-07-12
Comment: When preparing the vegetables in the pan, do not cook them fully at each step as they will continue cooking for each subsequent step. Do not skimp on the onion and garlic, these are 80% of the taste. For the final touch, a few shredded leaves of basil or a few olives black or green (pitted).
4 servings
Ingredients:
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400 g pasta (mezze maniche rigate or mezze penne rigate or possibly fusilly)
400 g cherry tomatoes, preferably also yellow for color) 1 large oignon 4 cloves garlic
1 small zucchini
1 broccoli or a second zucchini of a different color
corn kernels, from 2 fresh ears corn or a small can of corn (opt)
1 teaspoon "herbes de provence" or at least thyme or oregano a pinch of cayenne pepper
basil or olives (see text)
100+ g Parmigiano Reggiano or Peccorino Romano
EVOO
S + P
Preparation:
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Cut the cherry tomatoes in halves or quarters depending on size
Cut the onion in thin strips
Finely chop the garlic (or grate it later in the pan)
Collect the florets from the broccoli
Remove the seeds from the zucchini and dice it
Grate the cheese
Cut the olives in 2
Cooking:
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Start the water for the pasta and when boiling, cook them for the required amount of time (do not start too early if you stove heats up quickly).
Blanch the broccoli in boiling salt water for 3 to 5 mn. Throw away the water, pass under cold water, drain, reserve.
Use a large enough pan with a generous amount of EVOO. When hot, sweat the oignon with a little salt a few minutes (they will cook more as we go along). Add the garlic, cook 2 more minutes. Add the herbes de Provence and the cherry tomatoes and cook a few more minutes (they will cook more as we go along). Add the zucchini and the corn and continue cooking, covered now, for a few minutes until the zucchini is nearly cooked. You may need to add a little water to the pan.
Add the broccoli and the olives (if using) and warm up another 3 to 5 mn covered, stirring a few times.
When the pasta is cooked, drain well and reserve a bit of the pasta water.
Add the basil (if using) to the pan.
Mix the pasta with the vegetables, adding the cheese in 2 or 3 batches. If needed, add a bit of the pasta water so the pasta does not look too dry.