This incredible pasta primavera recipe is light, fresh, and made with lots of seasonal vegetables tossed in a light, lemon cream sauce.
Pasta primavera is right up my alley. If you love pasta and vegetables, this one is for you, too! There’s a generous amount of fresh veggies, it has a lovely light and lemony cream sauce, and it comes together in under 25 minutes.
I love veggie-heavy pastas, and really cannot wait for you to make this one. For more, see our veggie pasta made with a red sauce.
Key Ingredients
- All the Veggies: Pasta primavera is traditionally made with seasonal veggies, usually from spring, but often you’ll see some summer veggies tossed in, too. Think peas, broccoli, zucchini, green beans, onion, bell pepper, asparagus, and cherry tomatoes.
- Pasta: You can use any pasta shape, but I love short pasta shapes like penne or fusilli as they are a similar size to the veggies in this dish, so picking up a bite with your fork is easy.
- Garlic and Lemon: To capture that fresh, bright flavor, use both lemon zest and fresh lemon juice in the light cream sauce. We also use 4 cloves of garlic to get a light garlic flavor throughout the dish.
- Cream: Classic pasta primavera (originating at Le Cirque restaurant in New York City in the 1970s) brings together vegetables and pasta with a butter cream sauce. We don’t use too much cream, but it really brings everything together in this recipe.
- Broth: Use a light broth for the sauce, like vegetable broth or chicken broth.
- Cheese: I love Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano for this, but they aren’t always vegetarian. To guarantee this is a vegetarian pasta, use cheese that is noted as vegetarian on the package.
- Fresh Herbs: This pasta dish is so much better when you add lots of fresh green herbs on top right before serving. Fresh basil leaves, mint, and parsley are my go-tos.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Pasta Primavera
Tip 1: Cook your pasta in seasoned water. This tip is true for most pasta recipes, but is especially important for this recipe. The sauce is light and fresh, so it’s easy to under season. Starting with well-seasoned pasta is key. For 6 quarts of water, use 1 tablespoon of salt.
Tip 2: Cook heartier veggies first. You’ll make this all in one skillet (so use a big one!). While your pasta is cooking, you can start to saute the heartier vegetables like onion or broccoli. If you are using less hearty veggies (like spinach or cherry tomatoes), add them after a few minutes so they don’t get too mushy. Then, once they begin to turn tender, remove them from the pan and make the lemon cream sauce.
Tip 3: Toss the pasta with the sauce in the skillet. So that your sauce clings to the pasta and vegetables, toss them together in a warm skillet. If it seems dry, add a splash of pasta cooking water, which has some starch. That starch helps the sauce thicken and start to cling to the noodles.
More Vegetable Pasta Recipes
- Fresh Vegetable Lasagna
- Veggie Spaghetti
- Vegetable Pasta Bake
- Brown Butter Kale Pasta
- Easy Garlic Mushroom Pasta
Pasta Primavera
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This pasta primavera recipe is a light, veggie-packed pasta dish. Use seasonal spring or summer vegetables to make it, and give the hearty veggies (like broccoli and onion) a few minutes head start before tossing in the remaining veggies.
You Will Need
1 pound penne pasta or other short pasta (450g)
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups bite-sized broccoli florets or broccolini
1 zucchini, sliced into half moons
1 yellow squash, sliced into half moons
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
⅛ teaspoon gochugaru pepper flakes or red pepper flakes
1 cup vegetable broth (236ml)
⅔ cup heavy cream (157ml)
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely grated, heaped ½ cup, plus more for serving (28g)
Chopped fresh herbs, like basil, mint, or parsley, for serving
Salt and fresh ground black pepper, as needed
Directions
1Cook pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil with 1 tablespoon of salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente (tender, with a nice chew). Reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining.
2Cook hearty veggies: While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a large skillet (or use a Dutch oven) over medium heat. Add the broccoli and cook, stirring occasionally, until it’s bright green and ever-so-slightly tender.
3Add less hearty veggies: Add the zucchini, yellow squash, shallots, and peas, and continue to cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until all the veggies are tender. Season with salt and pepper, then transfer to a plate and set aside.
4Make the sauce: To the same skillet, add the butter, sliced garlic, and gochugaru pepper flakes, then cook for a minute, stirring the garlic around the pan. Pour in the vegetable broth and bring to a simmer. Add the cream, lemon zest, and lemon juice, then continue to cook until the sauce thickens a bit, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the parmesan cheese. Taste, and then season with salt.
5To finish: Add the cooked pasta and vegetables to the skillet, tossing to combine. If it seems dry, add a few tablespoons of the reserved pasta water. Continue to toss until the sauce coats the vegetables and pasta. Serve with fresh herbs and more cheese scattered on top.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Leftover pasta will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat slowly over low heat with an extra splash of broth or water.
- More veggies to consider: For hearty vegetables, consider green beans, asparagus, red onion, sweet onion, and bell peppers. For less hearty veggies, we love frozen edamame, snow peas, spinach or kale, and cherry tomatoes.
- The nutritional information provided is an estimate.
Thanks for this recipe! It reminds me of something at my favorite Italian restaurant in the 80’s that I loved and would try to replicate at home – this technique was spot on what I couldn’t ever quite get right. SWOONING Just needed some mushrooms!
Yay! Mushrooms would be delicious! 🙂
Thanks for another great recipe! Such a fresh tasting dish. Leftovers were good too! I love how light this for a pasta dish. I used GF pasta and it took more of a beating with the tossing so I’ll cook it more al dente next time. I do think the prep time is a bit underestimated but I find that in a lot of recipes. I think using a range of prep time would be helpful. (You could add that prep time feedback to the cooking club entry.)
It took me 45 minutes to chop the veggies and grate the cheese, but once the cooking process started, it went quickly. Delicious 😋
So happy you loved it! 🙂 We always like to chop up a double batch worth of veggies. That way the chopping is done for a delicious quick dinner later in the week.
I subbed coconut cream for the heavy cream with excellent results. This recipe will be on repeat at my home.
What a great idea! 🙂
So good.
From my daughter, “Best pasta dish I’ve ever eaten!” It was wonderfully light and fresh. I did add some Prosciutto…but this dish would still be absolutely wonderful without it.
Now that is a great review! We are thrilled that your family loves the recipe! 🙂
Great recipe, saving it for a quick dinner ideas. Super easy to make, truly tastes like spring. Vegetarian husband loved it.
Wonderful! 🙂
This is a delicious dish. I cooked some raw prawns in the pan and removed them to a dish before cooking the vegies. The mint was also important in the dish. I served it with a sprinkling if Greek Feta. I will definitely make again.
Sounds lovely!
This was delicious! It’s on my favorites list.
Wonderful! So happy you enjoyed it 🙂
Thank you
You are so welcome! 🙂