Pasta Primavera (Springtime Noodles)

It's Spring! According to the calendar anyway and despite the fact that we still see some snow on the ground. But why let that spoil our fun? Spring means lovely produce, fresh food and so much deliciousness! So to officially welcome Spring here's a favorite Spring dish - Pasta Primavera - loaded with all the lovely vegetables coming our way when true Spring comes into full swing!
The key to making this dish is preparation so make sure that all the vegetables are ready and fully prepped and the other ingredients should just be within your reach - no wasting time looking around for them. This takes literally just a few minutes to do hence the need for everything else to be ready come cooking time. I tried to write a time guide as to when to do this or that as you cook - multi-task a little bit - but feel free to devise your own style as you become more familiar with the dish. It's not difficult at all as you will find out and the result is just so well-worth it!

Years before when I made this dish, I often use heavy cream for the sauce but this year I decided to experiment and make a new sauce for the dish using Bleu Cheese - I had some available in the fridge so I thought, why not? Oh, it was wonderful!!! It perfectly suited and enhance the taste of the vegetables and everything worked together so excellently that I will do this again and try more Bleu Cheese Sauce for my pasta. However, should you not have bleu cheese then you can stick to the original recipe  and just use heavy cream with some ground nutmeg added for extra flavor. The latter is quite delicious too so you're not missing too much, it's just fun to experiment once in awhile and especially when it comes out so good such as this one. Enjoy this lovely and really easy but truly scrumptious dish!

Again the key here is to prepare all the ingredients before hand and make sure the rest of the ingredients are nearby for easy access and hassle-free cooking.



Ingredients

1 Tbsp Olive oil
2 Garlic cloves, chopped
4 pieces of Bacon, chopped
8 oz or 1/2 lb Asparagus, diagonally sliced into 1-inch lengths (snap off the fibrous part first)
8 oz or 1/2 lb Mushrooms, sliced
1 medium size Carrot or about 10 baby carrots, sliced thin and diagonally
1 medium sized Zucchini, halved then sliced
Salt and Pepper, to taste
3 green onions, sliced into 1-inch lengths
1/2 cup green peas
2 Tablespoons, fresh Basil, chopped
10-12 oz Spaghetti
1-2 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese, grated
Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

For the Cheese Sauce:
1 cup milk
1/2 cup Bleu Cheese, crumbled
1 Tablespoon Butter
Salt and pepper, to taste

Procedure

Boil the water as you are preparing the veggies. Once boiling, cook the spaghetti according to package directions or until al dente.

In a large frying pan, add the oil, garlic and bacon. Let the bacon render its fat.

While waiting for the Bacon to brown, prepare the sauce. Melt the butter in a sauce pan using medium heat. Pour in the milk and add the cheese and stir well until they all come together and no more lumps appear. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

When the bacon has browned a bit, add the asparagus, mushrooms, carrots and zucchini. Season with a little salt and pepper. Saute for about 3-4 minutes. Cover and let cook for another minute to soften the veggies.

Add the rest of the vegetables (green onions, green peas and basil) and also the Cheese Sauce. Increase the heat a little and cook until it begins to boil. You may add 1-2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan Cheese to thicken it. Check the seasoning and correct if necessary.

Mix the sauce with the pasta. Place in a serving bowl, garnish with parsley and serve immediately with extra parmesan on the side.

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