Spring has arrived… at least in my part of the world. It’s a lovely spring day with trees budding out, some almost in full leaf and the temperatures are sweater weather. Other places… well, some of you are still digging out of snow. Down under, folks are getting ready for fall, so it might well be pretty warm. So some of these vegetables in this gorgeous spring pasta may not be available, so make it with whatever you can muster up. It will still be delicious.

The idea with a Pasta Primavera (Spring Pasta) is to use vegetables that you can get fresh at the market so that it’s bursting with goodness and flavor. For the pasta part, I used Dreamfield pasta, which claims to have 5 effective net carbs per serving.  Generally, I eat about half a serving because it’s quite a lot of pasta. Recently I have heard that this claim is not true and the pasta is no lower carb’d than any other one.  I have also heard some people say that Dreamfield does affect their glycemic count, so if that is an issue, you can substitute in spaghetti squash or even shredded or thinly sliced zucchini or omit it altogether.  All I can say is that I have used it and it didn’t seem to slow my weight loss but this kind of thing will vary from person to person, so to be safe, use one of the other alternatives.  My recipe is based on one from Chef John at AllRecipes.com, but with a few modifications.

This recipe does use a pesto sauce. You can use a purchased one or make your own fresh. I’ve included the pesto recipe I created for this dish.

Spring Time Pasta
aka Pasta Primavera

2 cups Zucchini, sliced
1 cup Broccoli, fresh chopped or diced
6 spears fresh Asparagus, sliced
1 cup Leeks, sliced both white and green
3 tablespoons Green Onions, finely sliced
2 cups Brussels sprouts, shredded or sliced
1 tablespoon Garlic, minced
1/2 cup Mushrooms, sliced and cut into pieces
1 cup Chicken Broth or bullion
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded

Prepare all vegetables. Cut asparagus on the diagonal to expose more surface.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat, then add garlic, onions and leeks and sauté until the onion is translucent. Add mushrooms, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Cook and stir for about five minutes. Add chicken broth and the rest of the vegetables. Cook for another 10 minutes.

Prepare enough Dreamfield pasta (I used angel hair spaghetti) to serve however many are eating at the meal. Measurement and cooking instructions are on the spaghetti box.

Per serving, mix 1 cup pasta and 1 cup vegetables together and add 1 tablespoon pesto sauce. (Recipe below.) Toss together and let sit about five minutes, then toss again before serving.

Nutrition Info: (for vegetable mix only – pasta is not included):
Calories:46 Fat: 0.2 Net Carbs: 6.6 g Protein: 2.9 g

Spinach Asparagus Pesto

This pesto can be made with basil instead of spinach, which is the usual for pesto, but I had spinach on hand and lots of fresh asparagus, so I thought, why not? It is very yummy and worth the little bit of effort to make, especially if you have a food processor. You can put any extra in a jar in the refrigerator to be used later. Just try to use it within a week or two. In addition to being a great sauce for the vegetable dish above, it is also wonderful on fish, chicken or pork.

2 cups Baby Spinach, fresh,, packed
1/2 cup Parsley
4 spears Asparagus, fresh – parboiled
1/3 to 1/2 cup Olive Oil
3 cloves Garlic,
1/4 cup Pine Nuts
1 teaspoon ground Oregano
1 teaspoon fresh or ground Basil
Salt, dash
Black Pepper

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 325 degrees. Spray a pie tin or something similar with cooking spray. Spread the pine nuts over them to toast. Toast about four minutes, then stir or shake them around and cook another two or three minutes.

Par-boil 4 spears of asparagus – bring water to a boil and put the asparagus in for about two minutes. Cut into pieces and put in your food processor along with the rest of the ingredients. Process until all the ingredients are finely chopped and blended. You will probably have to use a spatula to mix some down into the lower area where the blade is and process again. If the pesto seems a bit dry, add another tablespoon of olive oil.

Makes about 10 one tablespoon servings

Nutrition Info per tablespoon:
Calories: 92.3 Fat: 9.6 g Net Carbs: 1 g Protein: 1 g

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 3/20/2014