This recipe for Pasta with Spring Vegetables is a lighter pasta dish. Add spoonfuls of Parmesan on top to make it a little more decadent.
This is a nice and lighter style pasta meal. The noodles are not soaked in a cream sauce. There are not a zillion grams of fat per serving in this plate of pasta. It’s still totally filling and delicious, but you won’t have to feel super guilty for making this pasta with spring vegetables for dinner.
Ingredients needed:
- pasta (I use cellantani pasta- short corkscrews)
- frozen peas
- olive oil
- asparagus
- yellow squash
- sugar snap peas
- garlic
- grape tomatoes
- salt and pepper
- cornstarch
- chicken or vegetable broth
- green onions
- lemon
- Parmesan cheese
How to make Pasta with Spring Vegetables:
The full, printable recipe is at the end of this post.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook as the package directs, adding the peas 3 minutes before the pasta is done. Drain and return the pasta and peas to the pot.
Meanwhile, heat a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and heat until hot but not smoking. Add the asparagus, squash and snap peas. Sauté, stirring often, 3 minutes or until almost crisp-tender. Stir in the garlic, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook 2 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to release their juices.
Stir the cornstarch into the broth until blended. Add to the skillet and simmer 1 to 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.
Add the vegetables, scallions, lemon zest and juice to the pasta; toss to mix and coat.
Add salt and pepper, to taste, as desired.
Sprinkle servings with grated Parmesan cheese. Add as much or as little cheese as you want. I recommend “much.” Enjoy!
The Best Pasta Recipes:
If you happen to be following the Weight Watchers WW plan, you’ll find a link to the WW Points on the recipe card below.
Pasta with Spring Vegetables
Ingredients
- 12 ounces cellantani pasta (short corkscrews) - or any pasta
- 10 ounces frozen peas
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound asparagus, tough ends broken off, and spears cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 medium yellow squash, cut in half lengthwise, then crosswise in ½-inch pieces
- 8 ounces sugar snap peas, ends trimmed
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 pint grape tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1½ cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
- 3 whole green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 medium lemon, zested and juiced
- grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook as the package directs, adding the peas 3 minutes before the pasta is done. Drain and return the pasta to the pot.
- Meanwhile heat a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and heat until hot but not smoking. Add the asparagus, squash and snap peas. Sauté, stirring often, for 3 minutes or until almost crisp-tender. Stir in the garlic, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook 2 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to release their juices.
- Stir the cornstarch into the broth until blended. Add to the skillet and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.
- Add the vegetables, green onion, lemon zest and juice to the pasta; toss to mix and coat. Sprinkle servings with grated Parmesan cheese.
Notes
- Nutritional information does not include Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.
- If preparing this pasta dish as vegetarian, use vegetable broth in place of chicken broth.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
