Although I try to make several dishes for a meal so that we can eat a variety of ingredients as well as flavors and energy in one meal, it is so nice to have sometimes everything in a single dish. This is one of those examples at our home. Pasta (which my husband loves so much) with many green vegetables with basil that also reflect the season that we are in now!
Pasta Primavera
What is pasta primavera? Primavera means “spring” in Italian. So, this pasta is made with the harvests of the spring season, which could be the harvests of the early summer season here in California.
I got the idea to make this pasta when we got the fava beans at the farmers market. I love boiling the fava beans and eating them so simply, like I shared in the recipe of another dinner. But having it in the pasta with some other vegetables is absolutely lovely.
To make pasta primavera with fava beans, I felt into using some different green vegetables and decided to invite the zucchini and kale to join. In addition, fresh onion and garlic will always add nice flavor. And when I add the homemade Genovese pesto with fresh basil to this and a squeeze of lemon juice, the flavor and aroma expands into full beauty. In the end, I sprinkle some vegan parmigiano. Vegan pasta primavera is now so complete and satisfying!
Fresh fruits in the savory dishes
As the pasta was so delicious and we were both so happy, I made this pasta again the following week. There we had fresh apricots from the farmers market, so I sliced them and added on the top. Mmmm….! It was so beautiful to add fresh yellow color into this green pasta plate, and it was so delicious!
Adding fresh fruits in the savory dish can bring the flavor of the dishes into a different dimension, and I appreciate it very much. Especially in the spring and summer season, when berries, apricots, nectarine, and peaches are all in the season, I definitely have more opportunity to incorporate this into my cooking.
In Eastern medicine, the flavor of sweetness is strengthening and nurturing for our digestive system. This will indeed make sense as to why we like to eat dessert at the end of the meal. To digest everything we have eaten well and smoothly, we eat some sweets at the end of the meal. In fact, I grew up often eating seasonal fruits as dessert instead of any sugary sweets. But it doesn’t have to be at the end of the meal. I feel adding some fruits during the meal can bring a different quality of satisfaction and medicine. And it is fun and visually beautiful!
Vegan Green Pasta Primavera
Ingredients
- 180g whole wheat spiral pasta
- 1 medium size onion
- 1 zucchini
- 150g fava beans
- 6 kale leaves
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp basil pesto
- salt
- freshly ground pepper
- EV Olive oil
- 1/4 cup water
- apricots or any kinds of colorful fruits/vegetables
Directions
- Step 1 For cooking pasta, heat the large pot with water and bring to a boil.
- Step 2 Meanwhile, cut the onion, zucchini, and kale into desired size and shape, and mince the garlic.
- Step 3 Heat the pan with olive oil at medium low heat. Add the garlic and warm the oil with it until the oil is infused with the garlic’s aroma.
- Step 4 Put the cut onion into the pan and sauté at medium high heat until the color becomes half-translucent.
- Step 5 Add the zucchini and sauté together. After a minute or two, add some salt to let the zucchini release its moisture, and keep sautéing until it gets tender.
- Step 6 Add washed fava beans into the pan. Pour in 1/4 cup of water, put the lid on, and cook together at the medium low heat for about 5-7 minutes. Check if there is enough moisture in the pan from time to time and add more water if needed.
- Step 7 Once the water is boiled, add the pasta and cook for the length as instructed on the package.
- Step 8 Open the lid of the pan, then adjust the flavor with salt and pepper.
- Step 9 Once the flavor is adjusted, put the kale into the pan and put the lid back on to let the kale steam for a couple of minutes.
- Step 10 Once the kale has become tender, turn off the heat and wait for the pasta to finish boiling.
- Step 11 Once the pasta is ready, put the noodles into the pan, add basil pesto, and mix everything together.
- Step 12 Lastly, squeeze the lemon juice and mix.
- Step 13 Serve on the plate. Decorate with some colorful fruits or vegetables as desired. Sprinkle some vegan Parmesan on top.
