Who knew back in 1975 that a well-known New York restaurateur would fly to the Novia Scotia summer home of an Italian baron and create this utterly classic North American dish? I certainly would not have guessed. At the time, the area was well known for seafood and lobster but on that night, 50 years ago, Sirio Maccioni (of New York City's Delmonico's and later his own establishment, Le Cirque) and his sous chefs wanted to try something different. The result was a light, creamy, fresh dish that has since stood the test of time - Pasta Primavera!
Primavera, in Italian, translates into "spring" and typically I see this dish prepared with the quintessential veggies of spring and summer - asparagus, spring onions, baby peas, summer squash, zucchini and green beans. I was in the mood for this dish but wanted to keep it on the fresh side, and so I looked to vegetables that hold up well through these winter months - enter leeks, broccolini, mushrooms and carrots. All of these vegetables look pretty good in the grocery store this deep into the cold and so I felt they would be a great addition to this pasta dish.
This recipe is meat free - although I did slice, season and pan sear a large chicken breast to add to the final dish. This is optional and not included in the recipe. This dish would also be delicious with shrimp or even scallops, if you want to dress it up a bit.
The recipe begins with a pot of boiling water - salted right before I added the pasta. I normally see a light noodle used here - angel hair or fine spaghetti as it pairs well with spring vegetables. In this case, I used casarecce, because I felt its added weight would help balance the bolder veggies and hold up to the heavier cream sauce. Casarecce is short pasta noodles with curled edges and a groove down the middle and looks a bit like little rolled-up scrolls. Casarecce, which literally means 'homemade', was originally made by rolling small rectangles of dough around a thin wooden pin or metal rod. Now, they can easily be bought at the grocery store and I grabbed a small bag to cook al dente for this dish.
Actually, just about everything here is cooked al dente, or "to the tooth," as the freshness of this dish is obtained by keeping the ingredients a little firm to the bite. Once the pasta was boiling, I began by softening all of the veggies in a combination of butter and oil.
I frequently sauté veggies in both butter and oil because I like the way it browns and softens food without burning. I don't feel you get the same results by using just one, so I often use a bit of each. Although there is an order of cooking in the recipe, I think when making it, I would eyeball it each time and judge when to put in each ingredient depending on the size and condition of the vegetables. For instance, I used matchstick carrots here and they cook faster than carrots that are cut into coins or whole baby carrots. In the end, it doesn't matter how you cook them so long as all of the vegetables are cooked to the desired doneness at the end.
Once the vegetables are sauteed, it's time to work on the cheese sauce. It begins with a simple roux, a combination of fat and flour that cooks for a minute and acts as the thickening agent for your cream. It should bubble and brown slightly before slowly adding the milk, whisking continuously as you do. It will thicken quickly but thin out again as the entire amount of milk is added. It should then only take a few more minutes to allow the mixture to thicken up again. At this time, the cheese can be included as well as a little salt and pepper.
If the sauce gets a little too thick, you can always thin it with a little more milk, or even vegetable broth or chicken broth if you don't mind the non-vegetarian addition. The idea is to make it creamy and to coat all of the dish's ingredients. Once the sauce is how you like it, it's just simply a matter of mixing it all together and serving.
I served this with pan seared chicken breast strips but it would be equally delicious on its own. It would have been great with garlic bread or rolls. I could have also mixed in other types of vegetables or even added whole roasted garlic bulbs and I think it would have been delicious as well.
The beauty of this meal is that it truly can be a mix of whatever you'd like or even whatever leftovers you have in tow. It's the perfect dinner idea for when you want to do an end of week crisper cleanout before you shop again for the upcoming week. It's really that versatile!
So, don't be afraid to try Pasta Primavera for a quick and easy midweek meal. This recipe made enough for 4 servings. If you needed to feed more, it could easily be done by adding a little more of the vegetables.
It's a fun meal and one that celebrates the season as you can easily work in vegetables that are at the height of their growing season. It's best served hot and immediately but can even be served warm in the summer months when the temperatures are climbing outside.
You can't go wrong! It's no wonder this beloved dish has been an American favorite for 50 years!
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