During Dinner Design! Pasta Primavera!

I was thinking I'd like to get back to the dinner-end of this blog too-- and thought I would start with dinner tonight. In case you haven't already made it to the grocery store today, this is what I'll be using to make John's version of "Pasta Primavera" for dinner... Super easy, vegetable heavy, delicious! 


SHOPPING LIST: 
-Assorted vegetables of your choosing: I recommend zucchini, carrots, yellow squash, green beans, red onions, cauliflower, broccoli, and/or frozen baby peas. You don't have to do all of these, but any combination is excellent.

-Good quality olive oil. This doesn't have to be break-the-bank expensive, but it should be good enough that you'll enjoy the flavor, since you'll definitely taste it.

-Tomatoes: I like to mix this up, and use some little fellas (like cherry or grape tomatoes) and some big fellas (like roma or heirloom tomatoes). Sometimes, I also like to throw in a can of diced tomatoes, strained of its excess juice.

-Lots of GARLIC! 
-Salt and pepper.
-Ideally, a block of fresh parmesan cheese to be grated over the top, but if you don't have the fresh stuff, the powdery kind in the shaker will totally suffice.

-Pasta, pasta, pasta! I'm going through an orecchiette phase myself, but I think angel hair, capellini, linguine, penne, you name it, would all work wonderfully with this recipe.

Now that you've got the ingredient list, check back tonight to see how it's all put together.


This recipe is 100% easy, so it is particularly great for a night when you've got lots of other things going on... (Like painting the bathroom medicine cabinet, for instance!)

See you tonight! 

*Note: While I was in Paris, one of my lovely friends made an especially delicious meal of orichette with "pink pesto". Later this week, I may attempt to copy the "pink pesto" but the other thing I took away from the meal was the importance of paying attention to the cooking pasta. I have a tendency to throw it into boiling water, walk away, get distracted, and then strain it in a panicked frenzy of soggy noodles, but my friends Malik and Martina watched the orecchiette so closely, (set a timer!) and when the bell chimed, whisked them out of the water lightning fast. The difference between neglected and nurtured noodles was remarkable. SO PAY ATTENTION!