Pesto Pasta Primavera
Want a healthy pasta dish that’s loaded with flavor but not cream-heavy? Pesto Pasta Primavera is green in all the right ways. Start with a basil pesto and layer in all of the early spring veggies that you can get your hands on. Asparagus, sugar snap peas, green peas and early leaf spinach are pictured here.
This is just a good, basic dish to put into rotation in the springtime because it is so very versatile. Add shrimp, cooked chicken, even bacon if you need to add a protein, but a good sprinkle of Parmesan, Romano or Asiago cheese will combine with the pasta to make a complete protein.
Notes and tips:
- When boiling your pasta, the best chefs tell you to salt your water very well. This way the salt flavor is picked up as the pasta cooks and expands, and is the most efficient way to salt. How salty? As chef Samin Nosrat describes her water, “As salty as the sea.”
- Lightly salt the other elements so you don’t over salt.
- Always drain your pasta water into a pot so you can save 1 – 2 cups for the pasta sauce. Don’t let it all go down the sink!
- Pasta will continue to absorb liquid after you have served it. Keep this in mind before you toss that pasta water; you may want to stir some in before you pack up any leftovers.
- Separate the asparagus tips from the stems when prepping your asparagus. The tips will stay intact and keep their texture when exposed to less cooking time than the stems. Add the tips toward the end of the total asparagus cooking time, to cook for 3-4 minutes then.
- 8 oz Linguine pasta
- 1/2 cup Basil Pesto (4 oz.)
- 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (for sauteing)
- 1 lb Asparagus (cut into 1-2 inch pieces)
- 3 clove Garlic (minced)
- 1.5 cup Frozen Peas (about 8 oz.)
- 1.5 cup Sugar Snap Peas (about 6 oz.)
- 2 cup Fresh Leaf Spinach (tightly packed)
- 1 lb Raw Shrimp (Peeled)
- 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheeses (grated)
- 1 cup Pasta Water
Salt and heat the pasta water to boiling, then slightly reduce heat while other elements cook.
Place 2T EVOO in a large skillet and heat over medium high heat until it shimmers. Add asparagus stems and saute until almost al dente. Add garlic and asparagus tips and cook to al dente. Remove to a separate dish.
Add 2T EVOO to skillet and cook shrimp until it just turns pink. Reduce heat to low and add in asparagus.
Stir in frozen peas and sugar snap peas. Heat, then keep warm.
Add spinach leaves to the boiling pasta water, bring back to a boil, then add the pasta. Boil pasta according to package directions, until al dente.
Mix ¼ cup EVOO with the pesto in a small bowl, while you cook the pasta and spinach.
Drain pasta over a pot large enough to catch 1 to 2 cups of the pasta water.
Add pasta and spinach to the vegetables and shrimp.
Pour the pesto/EVOO mixture over all and toss to combine. Add 1/2 cup of pasta water to loosen, use more as needed.
Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and a good, crusty French or Italian loaf of bread.