Pesto Pasta Primavera

This simple, adaptable pasta is everything you crave in a summer dish — vibrant, fresh, and impossibly easy. Imagine a pasta bowl brimming with the season's best tender-crisp zucchini, sweet bell peppers, and juicy tomatoes, all tossed in a bright, garlicky basil pesto that clings to every bite. But here’s the twist: the pasta plays a supporting role, just enough to carry the sauce and let those veggies shine. It’s a bowl of pure, green goodness, where the emphasis is on flavor and freshness, and the pasta is just a little indulgence in an otherwise gloriously light dish.

Approachable, Homestyle Pasta, Simply Prepared. Whole Food, Fresh & Seasonal. A Long-Time Personal Favorite. Another Quick Supper, a Kitchen Parade Specialty. A Summer Classic. Not just easy, Summer Easy. Budget Friendly. Weeknight Easy. Perfect When Cooking for One or Two. Easy DIY. Low Carb. Low Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly. Vegetarian. So Good!!

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COMPLIMENTS!

• "This is really, really good." ~ One hungry husband.

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Way Way Way Back ...

... this simple, no-recipe pasta was "supper" on uncountable summer nights, often on Saturdays after a temptation-driven morning at the farmers market. Or on Friday nights, the night before the next haul. I just couldn't get enough!

Trouble was, I was using too much pasta and, well, as we know all too well, too much pasta too often means too tight pants. Nobody wants too tight pants!

So I switched up the ratio of vegetables:pasta, finally settling on a pound of vegetables for every ounce of dried pasta. That makes it extra adaptable: if you end up with about 2-1/2 pounds of vegetables, just use about 2-1/2 ounces of pasta. Just keep the same ratio, it just works, no matter how many vegetables you want to use.

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Recipe Overview: Pesto Pasta Primavera

• This is an easy, adaptable pasta supper that's all about summer's best late-season vegetables — think eggplant, peppers, summer squash, tomatoes, corn and more — enriched with a pungent basil pesto, store-bought for convenience or homemade if you like. What's special here are the proportions, an entire pound of different vegetables for every one ounce of dried pasta. That's almost unheard of!
• What "Primavera" Means = the word means "spring" in Italian but for me, this is a late-summer pasta. Funny, though? Pasta Primavera is not Italian but instead a retro American dish dating back to the 1970s. Still funnier? It started off as a cheffy recipe in high-end New York restaurants.
• When to Serve = A night when there's time, either earlier in the day or right before cooking, to prep a bunch of vegetables.
• As written, the pasta is vegetarian but it would be easy to convert to vegan with a vegan pesto, including my own Homemade Fresh Basil Pesto Without Cheese. It could be gluten-free with a gluten-free pasta.
• Distinctive Ingredients = All Those Veggies!
• Short Ingredient List = veggies + pasta + pesto
• For Garnish = a dollop of pesto, a basil leaf or two are nice but definitely not mandatory
• Kitchen Tools = a pot for cooking the pasta & a large pot for cooking the vegetables
• It takes about a half hour of hands-on time to make Pesto Pasta Primavera.
• I do wish it were prettier, the pesto really muddies the vegetables' color.
• No special techniques are needed here. Can you cook pasta? Of course! Can you cook some vegetables in a big pot? Of course!
• This is a time-friendly recipe, just chop-chop, cook-cook then eat-eat.
• This is pantry-friendly recipe, use the vegetables you have on hand. My favorites are late-summer vegetables like eggplant, summer squash, peppers, tomatoes and corn. I tend to avoid more common winter vegetables, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes and so on because for me, anyhow, this is a summer dish.
• This is a calorie-friendly pasta, a whole pile of vegetables with just a small but mighty amount of pasta.
• This is a budget-friendly recipe, no pricey protein, no expensive hard-to-find ingredients.
• As written, the recipe makes about 9-1/2 cups of cooked pasta and vegetables. Usually, I would call "one cup" a serving but in this case, because of the ratio of vegetables:pasta, we seem to want more, usually a couple of cups for my husband, less for me.
• This recipe works especially well for those Cooking for One or Two. It's easily sized down, just use fewer vegetables and less pasta, keeping to the ratio of 1 pound vegetables:1 ounce of pasta.
• So good! I hope you love it!


• Not into so many vegetables? How about just peppers? Try my Sweet Pepper Pasta Skillet.
• Not quite what you're looking for? Check out my other main dish pasta recipes.

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PESTO PASTA PRIMAVERA

Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Time-to-table: 30 minutes
Makes about 9-1/2 cups (here, 2 cups usually seems right per serving)

Scale up or down using the ratio of a pound of vegetables:an ounce of dried pasta.

PASTA
• Water to cover plus an inch or two
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt (assumes Diamond Crystal)
• 4 ounces (112g) dried pasta, any shape

VEGETABLES
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 pounds (about 1800g) various vegetables such as:
• Longer-cooking: onion (don't skip), bell pepper (any color), eggplant, green beans
• Medium-cooking time: zucchini, yellow squash, okra, tomato (be generous, don't skip), fennel, asparagus lengths, mushrooms, tomatillos
• Short-cooking time: corn kernels, asparagus tips
• Generous salt after each addition

COMBINE
• Cooked Vegetables
• Cooked Pasta, drained
• 1/2 cup (or to taste) store-bought basil pesto
• Extra ribbons of fresh basil, optional
• Extra grated fresh parmesan, optional

COOK THE PASTA (see TIPS) Bring the water, salt and pasta to a boil, together. Once the water boils, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and set the timer for the number of minutes suggested on the pasta's package. When the timer goes off, check for doneness and if done, drain. With any luck, the vegetables will be done too!

COOK THE VEGETABLES IN STAGES Prep the longer-cooking vegetables before beginning to cook. In a very large skillet or Dutch oven, heat the oil on medium heat, then add all the longer-cooking vegetables at once (plus salt!), stirring to coat with oil. Let cook, stirring occasionally, just until beginning to soften, you don't want to cook all the way, otherwise the vegetables will turn mushy by the end. Taste for salt, add as needed.

While the longer-cooking vegetables cook, prep the remaining vegetables. Stir in the medium-cooking time vegetables all at once (plus salt!), stirring occasionally until nearly done. Stir in the most tender, short-cooking time vegetables and cook very briefly. Taste for salt, add as needed.

FINISH & SERVE Stir in the hot, drained pasta and pesto plus any basil and Parmesan.

TIMING TIP The trick to Pasta Primavera is to cook all the vegetables until just done, more crisp than soft. Since the recipes calls for several vegetables, they can't all be thrown in at once and can't be "fully" cooked (that is, still crisp) until the very end. Pay attention!

ALANNA's TIPS An easy memory device for this easy supper? "4 pounds of veggies + 4 ounces pasta (cooked, of course) + pesto". Yes, that's the shorthand recipe! You're going to wonder if just four ounces of dried pasta, cooked, can ever be enough. (I often wonder, myself!) But trust me on this. I do the same thing with My Chicken Noodle Soup and the technique just works! This makes a lot, but we find that the proportion of vegetables:pasta is so high, we want more volume. Instead of the usual single cup for me, a cup and a half for him, we both want more. I'd allow a good 2 cups per serving. If there are leftovers, good, they're great. If you'd like more specific combinations of certain vegetables, try Summer Vegetable Stew, especially, but also Summer Vegetable Curry, Armenian Vegetable Stew or Southern Farm Stand Stew with Okra, Tomatoes & Sweet Corn. A wintry version with cauliflower is Tuscan Vegetable Stew. Mine is an unconventional way to cook pasta but it works! Instead of waiting for the pasta water to boil, bring the water, salt and pasta to a boil all together, then simmer for however minutes are recommended on the pasta's instructions. Easy Peasy! Be generous with tomato and definitely don't skip it, since tomatoes create the cooking liquid that helps cook the other vegetables. My last potful, I used a full 12 ounces of good tomatoes (just a couple of juicy heavy-in-the-hand tomatoes from the garden) and it wasn't too much. Some times, I veer more toward a Pasta Carbonara, starting with bacon, skipping the pesto, using an egg or two tempered with pasta water for thickening, seasoning with an inordinate amount of freshly ground pepper.

FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more. If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2024/08/pesto-pasta-primavera.html .

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Seasonal Cooking: Late Summer Across the Years

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If you like Kitchen Parade's recipes, you'll love A Veggie Venture, my food blog about vegetables with more from-scratch recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, home to the famous Alphabet of Vegetables and vegetables in every course, seasonal to staples, savory to sweet, salads to sides, soups to supper, simple to special.

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More Ways with Pasta

more
~ main dish pasta recipes ~

• THE RECIPE Sweet Pepper Pasta Skillet Colorful bell peppers in a light cream sauce. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Warm Baked Feta & Tomatoes with Shrimp The TikTok phenomenon plus shrimp. (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE Broccoli Rigatoni with Chickpeas & Lemon Another easy pasta supper, lemony, garlicky, cheesy, broccoli good. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Lemon & Asparagus Pasta Light and bright for spring.

• THE RECIPE Baked Orzo Casserole with Eggplant, Olives, Goat Cheese & More Make-ahead pasta loaded with Mediterranean vegetables.
• ANOTHER TAKE Pasta with Slow-Roasted Tomatoes Once you start roasting tomatoes, easy suppers like this half make themselves. (PIN This)

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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