Hi, my name is Ritu and welcome to my channel,
IndulgentFuel.
Spring is finally here, and to celebrate the
season, I will be making a penne primavera
recipe today.
Let's get started.
To make the penne primavera, you will need
the following.
A couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive
oil.
I use one fistful of penne pasta per person.
I'm using whole wheat penne.
A couple tablespoons of parmigiano reggiano.
Just the zest of about half a lemon.
15 asparagus spears - look how delicate they
are, it's in season.
A handful of parsley.
About 8 cherry tomatoes.
3 cloves of garlic.
2 small colorful bell peppers.
1/4 of an onion.
About 1/2 a cup of fresh English peas, again
in season.
And some broccolini, that is baby broccoli,
that I also found in season.
A little bit of red pepper, and some salt.
Let's get started.
I'm just going to grab a big pot like so,
and fill it up with water, and I'm going to
liberally salt it.
You want it to taste kind of like the ocean,
so go really heavy on the salt, as this is
your only chance to flavor the pasta.
See, I was not joking when I said liberally
salt it!
Then, I'm going to bring this up to a boil,
and I'll add the pasta and cook it according
to the package directions.
Just smashed my garlic - I'm going to give
it a rough chop.
Asparagus spears.
These I like to just line them up and cut
them at an angle.
Just more or less like that.
I'm not going to go all the way to the bottom
because the stalks can be pretty chalky.
You want most of the vegetables to be more
or less the same size so they cook evenly.
Next with the bell peppers.
I like to get the seeds out, just like that
so it is nice and clean.
The baby broccoli.
Same thing for this, I'm not going to go all
the way because I don't want the really stalky
parts.
Just going to cut the cherry tomatoes in halves.
My skillet has been heating on medium heat
for just about a minute.
At this point I'm going to add some olive
oil - just a couple of tablespoons.
One, and two.
When you're cooking something you don't want
to use extra virgin olive oil, because it
has a lower boiling point than regular olive
oil.
The extra virgin olive oil - when you heat
it up and it starts to smoke, it turns carcinogenic.
So always cook with olive oil, and top with
extra virgin olive oil.
To this oil - do you hear the sizzle - I just
added the chopped garlic.
And I'm going to bring the temperature down
to a low heat.
I'm also going to add red pepper flakes because
I want the oil to be nicely infused with all
of these flavors.
And just keep this moving.
Stir it around.
We don't want the garlic to brown.
We want it to just merely turn a little and
just be cooked through.
When garlic gets brown it gets really bitter.
At this point, I'm going to add the onions.
I'm going to wait for the onions to get translucent.
And this is on low heat.
To sweat the onions a little bit, I'm going
to add some salt.
We want to be able to taste the natural bite
and texture of each of the vegetables so we're
not going to overcook them to a point where
they are mushy or soft.
I want a little bite in the onion, I want
a little bite in the asparagus.
We want to retain as much of the nutrition
as possible by not overcooking them.
And that's the best part about creating recipes
from what is available and in season.
Whatever you make will taste like a more intense
version of that dish - everything just tastes
a little more enhanced, kind of like food
in HD!
Mmmm... smells so garlicky!
Smells just amazing.
And there's just a little bit of a hint of
red pepper in the air, so it's just a little
spicy and garlicky.
So good!
The onions are going to continue to cook,
so I'm going to add in the other vegetables.
I'm going to start with the broccolini, because
these are going to take longer than the asparagus.
I will give them a couple minutes of a head
start, and then I will put in the asparagus.
Turn the heat up to a high, kind of like you
would in a stir fry.
Oops, broccolini overboard, get back in there!
Also when you don't just overcook vegetables,
the colors are good too.
When the heat hits the vegetable, it turns
to a more intense green.
When you overcook it, it turns brown.
Brown is no fun!
You eat with your eyes first, so always stop
short of overcooking your vegetables.
OK, that's it.
Now, in go the asparagus.
And the bell peppers.
I know you guys are thinking - wow, that's
a lot for two people, and it is.
But the point is to eat healthy - instead
of filling up on the pasta, fill up on the
vegetables.
And now, I'm going to go ahead and add peas.
OK you guys, this is done.
I'm going to turn off the heat.
Pasta goes in.
Along with just a little bit of the pasta
water.
Let's just toss this around.
I'm going to show you how to finish this off.
I've taken the pasta with the vegetables out,
and I threw in the cherry tomatoes now after
plating it.
So I'm just going to zest a half of the lemon.
Grind just a bit of sea salt over that.
And I'm going to finish it off with a tiny
bit of finishing oil, which is basically just
a really really good quality extra virgin
olive oil.
And then, I'm going to hit it with some chopped
parsley, just like that.
And done!
This is two portions, and I can't wait to
taste it.
My favorite time, the tasting!
Mmmm!
Amazing!
As expected!
The whole wheat penne has a really nice bite
to it, and so do the vegetables.
The parsley and the lemon add a light airy
refreshing taste.
And the parmesan adds a comforting saltiness
to the pasta.
We used a whole wheat pasta instead of white
pasta, so we're getting more fiber, more protein,
and more complex carbs.
I hope you enjoyed it and definitely don't
forget to subscribe to my channel.
I hope to see you soon, thanks for watching!
