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Short-Order Kitchen

High-Protein Pasta Primavera

By Wes Ellis1 min read
Creamy penne with broccoli, squash, peppers and a cherry tomato, served with garlic bread on a white plate.
Recipe card
Servings
8
Prep
15 minutes
Cook
15 to 20 minutes
Method
Stovetop
Heat
Medium heat
Difficulty
Medium
Jump to ingredients & directions ↓

Part 2 of the thread Weeknight dinners

THE SHORT VERSION4 points
  • The vegetables cook in the pasta pot for the last minute.
  • Save 2 cups of pasta water. It becomes the sauce with 4 oz cream cheese.
  • Zucchini goes in raw at the end so it stays crisp.
  • Chicken is optional; leave it out for a vegetarian dinner.
THE RECIPE · HIGH-PROTEIN PASTA PRIMAVERA

Ingredients

Pasta and vegetables

Sauce

Optional

You'll need

  • Large pot
  • Colander
  • Whisk

Directions

Pasta and vegetables

  1. Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until almost al dente, 1 to 2 minutes short of the package time.
  2. For the last minute, add the peppers, snow peas, broccoli and carrots to the pot.
  3. Save about 2 cups of pasta water, then drain the pasta and vegetables together. Rinse briefly with cold water to stop the cooking.

Sauce

  1. Put the empty pot back over medium heat with the saved pasta water and the cream cheese. Whisk at a simmer until it melts into a thin, smooth sauce. Stir in the garlic.
  2. Add the pasta and vegetables back to the pot, plus the chicken if you're using it, and stir to coat.
  3. Toss in the raw zucchini and the herbs and cook a minute or two more, just until the zucchini is tender-crisp.
  4. Season well with salt and pepper and serve with Parmesan.
Notes Keeps in the fridge up to 3 days. The sauce thickens as it sits, so add a splash of water or milk when you reheat. Roughly 340 calories and 36 g protein per serving with the chicken, give or take.

wesellis.com/blog/pasta-primavera/

Primavera just means spring, and in pasta terms it means "whatever vegetables you have, cut small." This version keeps the sauce light and quick, and it uses the pasta pot for nearly everything. One pot, one colander, and the vegetables don't need their own pan.

Blanch in the pasta water

Dropping the firmer vegetables into the boiling pasta for the last minute cooks them just enough and keeps their color. Cut them small and thin, especially the carrots, since a minute isn't long. The quick cold rinse afterward stops them from going soft while you make the sauce.

Tip

Scoop the pasta waterThe cloudy, starchy water left after boiling pasta. A splash of it helps cheese and sauce cling to the noodles instead of clumping.More: Philly Cheesesteak Pasta out before you pour everything into the colander. It's easy to forget, and the sauce doesn't work without it.

Cream cheese plus starch

Two cups of starchy pasta water and a block of cream cheese whisk into a sauce that coats like cream but is much lighter. It's the same idea as the pasta-water trick in Philly Cheesesteak Pasta, just with a creamier result. Season it harder than you think. Pasta and vegetables soak up salt.

Try this

It keeps well as leftovers. If you want a cold pasta for lunches instead, Chicken Pasta Salad goes in a similar direction.

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