Yield: Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
-
Serves 4-6
- 12 ounces dried short pasta, such as rotini, penne or farfalle
- 1 cup carrot, cut into matchsticks
- 3 scallions, green parts sliced and white parts chopped
- 1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 cup red and yellow bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 2 cups rapini, kale, or broccoli large stems trimmed, with leaves
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 8 asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1-2 inch pieces at an angle
- 1 cup zucchini and/or yellow squash, cut into half moons ¼ inch thick
- ½ cup white wine
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 ½ cups finely grated parmesan cheese, divided
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons finely sliced basil leaves
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
Directions:
Boil enough water to cover pasta by 2 inches. Salt water liberally, and cook pasta until 2 minutes shy of al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta water. Drain pasta.
Heat 2 tablespoons butter in large, flat-bottomed skillet big enough to hold all of the cooked pasta and vegetables.
Add scallion and garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add carrots, squash, peppers, rapini and asparagus. Sauté until squash is just beginning to turn translucent in the middle and the rapini and asparagus turn bright green but aren’t yet tender, about 2-3 minutes. Season lightly with salt and liberally with freshly ground black pepper. Turn up the heat and add white wine, bring to a boil. Reduce liquid by half, about 3 minutes. Add 1 cup of reserved pasta water. Bring liquid to a simmer while stirring constantly. Lower the heat slightly. Add lemon juice, zest, 2 tablespoons butter, red pepper flakes, 1 cup parmesan cheese and stir to melt. You should have a slightly thick, silky, cohesive sauce able to coat all the vegetables with some left over in the bottom of the skillet to coat the pasta. Taste for seasoning.
Add the drained pasta, cherry tomatoes, frozen peas and reserved scallion and toss to evenly distribute the vegetables. Leave on the heat just long enough to heat the peas and cherry tomatoes through, then remove from the heat, toss in basil leaves, and serve with more parmesan cheese if desired.
