Pasta Primavera
I’m always looking for new ways to make my favorite dishes gluten-free. This recipe for Pasta Primavera was inspired by a college favorite, and as soon as I took that first bite, I was back in my dorm room studying and eating a quick meal I’d buzzed in the microwave. This homemade version is even better and a great way to use up some veggies that may be hanging out in your fridge.
It’s always a good idea to read a recipe the whole way through before you get started so you can see how all the pieces go together!
Cream Sauce Ingredients:
- 4 Tbsp. butter
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 4 Tbsp. all-purpose, gluten-free flour
- 2 1/2 cups 2% milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
- Squeeze of fresh lemon
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Vegetables:
- Broccoli
- Red, yellow, orange, and green peppers
- Shredded carrots (optional)
Pasta:
- Barilla® Gluten-Free Fettuccine
- 1/2 cup pasta water
Instructions:
- Following the directions on the back of the pasta, bring salted water to a boil in a large pot.
- While the water is heating up, rinse, dry, and chop your vegetables and set them aside. Think bite size pieces when you’re chopping.
- Took cook the vegetables--heat olive oil in a medium frying pan and add in your vegetables. Sprinkle some pink Himalayan salt on top and give the vegetables a toss so the salt and oil is evenly distributed. Cook the veggies for 6-8 minutes, just until they start to soften and brown. If you want your veggies more tender you can cook a little longer. Set the cooked veggies aside.
- Once the water is boiling, add in your fettuccine and stir occasionally.
- To make the cream sauce–Add butter and garlic to a sauce pan. Let the garlic and butter melt together using a whisk to incorporate the two. Then add in your flour and continue to whisk until the roux is smooth. While you continue to whisk, slowly add in the milk and heavy cream. I did one cup at a time whisking the entire time to ensure the roux and milk mixed together well. Let the milk mixture thicken stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick. Add in the nutmeg and lemon juice.
- Before the pasta is finished cooking, carefully ladle out 1/2 cup of pasta water in a glass liquid measuring cup and set it aside.
- Strain your pasta and add it back into the large pot. I put a lid on top of mine to hold in the heat.
- The cream sauce should be thickened at this point so you can add in the Parmesan cheese and continue to stir. I added in a little pepper at this point. Let all of the cheese melt into the cream sauce and then set the burner on low.
- Add the pasta water you set aside and add it to the cooked pasta. This helps liven up the pasta again and the starch from the water will also help add a creamy texture to the dish.
- Carefully pour the cream sauce over the pasta and then add in your cooked veggies.
- Give everything a toss and serve hot with freshly grated cheese on top.
I’m pleasantly surprised how well this pasta dish has held up the last few days. Gluten-free dishes aren’t always guaranteed to still taste good day two or three, but this pasta dish must be working its magic because it’s still delicious several days later. You could also add grilled chicken to this pasta dish for some added protein!
**I’m trying something new with the text colors above to help show how a recipe can have multiple moving parts that you can overlap so you can make the dish efficiently. Technically, you could cook the vegetables and stop. Make the pasta and stop. And then make the cream sauce and stop. If you did it that way, your veggies would be cold and the pasta would be dried out. Weaving the recipe together allows you to make the most of your time and bring together a cohesive meal without a lot of extra downtime in between tasks for the best overall results. I probably won’t do this for every recipe, but if it helps anyone, leave a comment and I’ll work in more color-coding to help instructions stand out.
