- If you're anything like
me and just need to get food
on the table during the week,
there is no better recipe
than pasta primavera.
It's incredibly easy to prepare,
it's absolutely delicious,
and it's a fantastic
way to get your family
to eat vegetables.
Primavera in Italian translates
to English simply as spring
and there are no recipes that are alike.
Seriously, if you looked
at 10 primavera recipes
in 10 different cookbooks,
there'd be all these different variations.
A lot of it's about what was available,
how do we make this taste good?
So this is my rendition and
of course you can customize it
to your liking,
but first we're gonna of course
knock out a little bit prep.
Sound good?
Let's cook.
We're gonna start off by
peeling up some carrots.
I've got two medium sized carrots
which means you could do
three small or one large.
And then, to cut them I'm
going to thinly slice them.
You could absolutely grate
them if you want them
to be thin little matchsticks.
I'm gonna try to keep everything cohesive,
so I'm gonna go with that thin slice.
The same goes with this asparagus.
I've got about eight to 10 stalks here.
If you've got thicker asparagus,
maybe think six to eight.
It's all about how much
you want to serve up.
Next, I've got a smaller zucchini.
Again, going to thinly slice,
but don't let this limit you.
Maybe you wanna large
dice all these vegetables,
and that would be totally fine.
I've got some cremini mushrooms.
I'm just gonna slice off
the end and then lay it flat
on the cutting board and slice it.
This is just a safer way to cut mushrooms.
If you simply slice off
that end and roll it over,
it stays nice and flat.
There's no worry about
potentially cutting yourself
or anything like that.
Once they are sliced up,
we're gonna add them to the
bowl with these sliced carrots.
So you may be asking at this point
why are some vegetables together in a bowl
while others are in a different bowl?
Well, it's all about cooking time.
I know that onions and carrots
and mushrooms are gonna take
a little bit longer to cook,
so I'm gonna do those first.
Then I'll throw those
other vegetables in later.
Don't stress, just follow this way.
I promise it will be the
best tasting primavera ever.
So now I'm going to slice
some cherry tomatoes in half.
As you get more into summer,
you can use heirloom tomatoes
or even nice vine ripe tomatoes.
If you're in the winter months,
think cherry tomatoes or romas,
as they will taste way better.
Next, I've got some kalamata olives,
just gonna slice them in half.
You could thinly slice them as well,
that part's totally up to you.
Of course, you could use black olives
or even Spanish olives if you'd like.
I've got a red onion.
I'm going to slice off the ends of each.
Cut it in half and then
remove that outer peel,
and then I suppose watch me do me
and thinly or julienne this red onion.
This takes a little bit of practice guys,
I've obviously done this
for quite a long time,
but be careful.
Go slower, thinly slice your red onion.
We are now, next, going to
finely grate up some garlic.
I'm of course just throwing
it through the press
because I can't stand
to chop garlic anymore.
I've been doing it for 25 years, you guys.
I'm over it.
Next add some fava beans right to the bowl
with the tomatoes, zucchini and asparagus.
If you don't have fava beans,
feel free to use lima beans.
No big deal.
And now it's time to start
cooking, so grab your onions.
We're going over to a
very large frying pan.
We're gonna add in some olive oil.
We're gonna immediately
turn the heat to medium.
Let it heat up for maybe 20 to 30 seconds.
We do not need it to smoke.
Add in your onions,
and we're gonna cook these
for six to right minutes.
What we're looking to do here
is get a little bit of brown on them,
but also make sure they're
tender and translucent.
We're just trying to bring
about the onion flavor
before we start to add in everything else.
But if you just cook these
without browning them,
you're gonna miss out on a ton of flavor.
So at this point what we're gonna do
is add in the carrots and mushrooms.
Think to yourself, "I'm
doing this in timing
"and in sequence for how
long things take to cook."
Carrots are crunchy, they're more firm.
It's gonna take longer to cook,
so we're gonna cook this for a
further four to five minutes.
No need to get a brown
on them or the mushrooms.
We're just trying to sort
of tenderize them up,
and try a carrot.
Take one out, if it seems like we're
in good shape, fantastic.
Next, scoop the vegetables
to the other side of the pan
'cause I'm gonna teach
you a little trick here
that I learned way back in the day.
So on the other side of the pan
where there's absolutely nothing,
we're gonna add the garlic
and we're gonna cook it
on this side of the pan
so that it doesn't burn, okay?
Sometimes you throw it right
in there in the hot pan
and then the garlic
burns before you know it
and it's over with.
So if we cook it on one
side and mix it together
with all the other ingredients,
it's less likely to
burn and over caramelize
which is gonna make your dish taste nasty.
At this point we're adding in
all of the extra ingredients,
the fava beans, zucchini, tomatoes,
and thinly sliced asparagus.
Put them right into the pan
and then we're only gonna cook these
for maybe two to three minutes.
These vegetables are very soft in nature
and don't need much.
We do not want this to be mushy.
We want everything in there
to have a little crisp to them
and still keep all of their flavor.
We're going to hit it with
those sliced kalamata olives,
which are gonna add some nice
natural salts and vinegars.
Of course we're gonna
season it with sea salt
and fresh, cracked black pepper.
Go ahead and grab a big spoon
and mix all of these ingredients together.
It's incredibly important
to make sure everything is seasoned.
Remember, season once taste
twice and set it to the side.
And commis, it's just like I always say,
you start understanding
these fundamental techniques,
like cooking things in order of doneness
so at the end everything's still
got that little bit of bite
and it's all cooked and delicious.
Start incorporating this
into all of your cooking
so your homemade food from scratch
will taste infinitely better
than anything you get at
restaurants or at the store.
Now for our pasta.
We've got a big pot of boiling water.
We're gonna hit it with salt.
Remember, it should taste like the ocean,
and of course I've got a ton leftover,
homemade linguini noodles.
I'm absolutely going to put them in there.
When you're cooking fresh pasta,
it only takes maybe two to three minutes.
I sort of use this motion
of grabbing and pulling
to make sure none of the
noodles are sticking.
Once they are done, go ahead
and remove them from the water,
and it's okay, you don't
have to drain it completely
because some of that pasta water is good.
Add it right to that big old pot
and begin to mix things
in as best you can.
Don't worry if it's not gonna
completely fold together
'cause I'm gonna show you a
little trick here in a second.
Head over to that pasta water pot.
Get about a cup and a
half or so, two cups,
bring it right back
over, pour it on there.
And then I'm gonna hit
it with a little bit
of fresh chopped parsley,
and then go back to mixing it in.
And to fold in pasta like this,
this is gonna take some practice you guys,
but do a flipping motion of
forward and then rolling back.
All of the ingredients seem
to mix in a little bit better
by doing this.
Yes, and of course you can
use a different noodle.
Like I said, I just have a lot
of homemade pasta left over
that I want to use.
You could use penne, fusilli, farfalle.
It is totally up to you.
Use what you have and use what you like.
Also, if you wanna
little protein in there,
hit it with some cooked
chicken breast, boom,
or rotisserie chicken if
you've got that, fantastic.
It's all about making
these things work for you
and still tasting delicious.
Of course now, it's time to plate up,
so we're gonna switch over to slo-mo.
I'm gonna be placing this in a bowl.
I just think that it's
a little bit runnier,
so it's gonna play nicer in
a bowl instead of a plate
and sort of running everywhere.
Maybe actually fold the pasta
over as you can see here.
I'm gonna flatten it out a little bit
because I'm gonna put some
goodness over the top.
You, of course, can serve
this any way you want.
I'm all about that visual
look, so that's why I do it.
Get you a big old scoop of
the vegetables in the sauce
and pour it right over the top.
It literally looks so
good and smells so good,
and it's nice and healthy, you guys.
Your kids, your family,
will absolutely love this.
I'm gonna grate on some
fresh Parmesan cheese.
You can absolutely use
Pecorino Romano as well,
and for some optional garnishes,
I've got some toasted pine nuts leftover
from the pesto pasta I
made not too long ago.
I'm gonna hit it with
that and then finally,
at the very end,
I'm gonna finish with a
little fresh, chopped basil
just to add some more herbs to it,
and, man, look at this beauty.
(lively music)
Dang delicious, dang perfect for spring.
Please like my video and
definitely subscribe to my channel
and check out this video
'cause it is so flipping good.
You'll love it and I'll see you on there.
(upbeat music)
