Meatless Monday Meal of the Week- Giada's Pasta Primavera!

Hey everyone!

Okay, fine, I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy with a whole mess of things. But now that I'm done working at camp for the summer, I'll have oodles of free time to keep blogging away for my loyal followers (you know who you are...)

So this post is gonna be short and sweet, as I have deemed myself notorious for writing uber long blog posts.

Anyway, we all know what day it is! Yes, that's right, its Meatless Monday. I can sense your excitement! So tonight I will be making Pasta Primavera. Meaning "Spring Pasta" in Italian, Pasta Primavera is a light, healthy and simple pasta dish with lots of fresh vegetables. Although there are loads of different recipes for this dish, I have decided to go to a trusted source. The trusted source that I speak of is the one and only Giada De Laurentiis. Knowing her and her Italian roots, this pasta dish is sure to be amazing. Here's the recipe!



Ingredients:

3 carrots, peeled and cut into thin strips
2 medium zucchini or 1 large zucchini, cut into thin strips
2 yellow squash, cut into thin strips
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs or herbs de provence
1 pound farfalle (bowtie pasta)
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup grated Parmesan


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

On a large heavy baking sheet, toss all of the vegetables with the oil, salt, pepper, and dried herbs to coat. Transfer half of the vegetable mixture to another heavy large baking sheet and arrange evenly over the baking sheets. Bake until the carrots are tender and the vegetables begin to brown, stirring after the first 10 minutes, about 20 minutes total.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Toss the pasta with the vegetable mixtures in a large bowl to combine. Toss with the cherry tomatoes and enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Season the pasta with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve immediately.



One thing that I really love about Pasta Primavera is how you can add in any vegetables that are in season and it always tastes great. This version contains very summery (or should I say "springy") vegetables including squash, zuchinni and tomatoes. However, Giada puts a little spin on this classic by roasting the vegetables instead of blanching them, making this dish more rustic and, fortunately, less time consuming.

Look forward to pictures of this finished product tonight!

Pasta Primavera, here I come!
Leda :)

Recipe Courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis at FoodNetwork.com (also available in her cookbook "Everyday Italian")