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Against Pasta Primavera

Jill

I love vegetables. I love pasta. But I’m with Bittman that “pasta tossed with every vegetable under the sun, spring or not — broccoli, tomatoes, peas, zucchini, asparagus, mushrooms, green beans, you name it — and enough cream to smother any hint of freshness” is not my favorite thing. Luckily, he offers us a bunch of simple, vegetable-centric pasta dishes that aren’t overwhelming primavera-style. The gemelli with dandelions and smoked sausage, and the tagliatelle with peas, pecorino, mint and chiles, are going on my to-make rotation this week.

21 thoughts on Against Pasta Primavera

  1. Huh. Growing up at my house, pasta primavera never involved cream sauce and was always my dad’s way of getting us to eat the multitude of zucchini and tomatoes taking over the backyard. Tossed with a little olive oil, minced garlic, and poblano chile.

    Authentic? No. Tasty? Yes.

  3. Somewhat coincidentally I’m making browned butter and mizithra tossed with a squash medley for dinner. Not healthy by any means, but tasty.

  5. These recipes sound delicious. I’m a vegetarian who does not cook (which means I end up eating cereal for dinner 3-5 nights per week). But I’ve been thinking I might like to start to learn to cook and these recipes just might make me finally do it. I guess I’ll owe both Mark and Jill a thank you if I really do this. Thanks, Jill.

  6. Jill, you’re openly displaying your privilege with your distaste for cream sauce. As an indigenous person, I only wish I could eat cream. I may have to stop reading Feministe.

    Now that we got that out of the way, I also have never heard of primavera with cream sauce. Odd.

  7. Kristen J.’s Husband: Somewhat coincidentally I’m making browned butter and mizithra tossed with a squash medley for dinner. Not healthy by any means, but tasty.

    *paws pathetically at the door, whining to be let in for dinner*

  8. Cream!?! In primavera? The fuck?

    No. no.. Correct primavera is: garlic, olive oil, your veggies, mixed in with your al dente pasta, with liberal use of parmesan. That’s all. Simple, tasty, and no effing cream.

  9. I only cook with cream when I buy some to make whipped cream to have with pie and there’s some left over. Otherwise, who needs that ultrapasturized crap? (Am I the only one who gets weirded out by cream that doesn’t go bad for more than a month?)

  10. Jadey: *paws pathetically at the door, whining to be let in for dinner*

    **invites Jadey in for dinner**

    Although, I will admit my favorite part of dinner was Kristen’s fresh baked bread and shortbread cookies.

  11. I am a serious advocate of tossing veggies into the pasta water for the last minute or so of cooking and then everything is ready all at once. But I cannot see creamed spinach with angel hair. I think you need something heartier.

  12. Mmmm, cream. I used to really love the chicken primavera at Pizza Hut (cue holier-than-thou chorus of, “Ewww, Pizza Huttt!”). I haven’t had it in forever, but I remember it having bell peppers, broccoli, squash and zucchini. It’s actually the dish where I first tasted zucchini (and realized I liked it). If it takes a bunch of cheese and alfredo and chicken to do that … well … I think that’s swell. Ain’t nuthin’ wrong with cream and cheese and chicken in yo’ primavera.

  13. This is basically how I always make pasta now, if I’m not making a ragu. I have a couple of variations I go to a lot, that are classified in my head not by whether there’s meat or not, but by the main spices /flavorings. I.e. Lemon with capers / olives; smoked paprika / hotsauce / rosemary; butter and thyme — garlic is assumed in all. Any can be combined with a variety of meats (or not), any veggies I have in the house are fair game.

    Lately I’ve been wanting a lot of seafood with smoky paprika and/or lemon and the saltiness of olives. I did go through a phase in early grad school, though, where I made chipolte lime alfredo on a semi-regular basis. You need *good* cream for that, though.

  14. My go-to, lazy-student favorite is pasta, peas, and pesto. I quite like any dish that allows me to do carbs and veg in one pot, so primavera et al are favorites.

    But cream??? Maybe some egg mixed with a touch of milk (the hot pasta will cook the egg sufficiently), but no cream, please. Or just olive oil, lemon, and thyme if you want something lighter; goes well if you marinade the veg in it for a while and dump the lot on the pasta.

  15. Since everyone’s talking recipes, one of my favorites is pasta with asparagus, pine nuts, garlic and prosciutto. Just roast some chopped asparagus (cut into 1-inch pieces) with sliced cloves of garlic, salt and pepper and olive oil, until tender. Slice up about 3 ounces of prosciutto. Toast 3 tablespoons pine nuts. Toss with hot drained pasta of any shape (I like farfalle). Add some more olive oil, freshly ground pepper and lots of Parmesan cheese. Delicious!

  17. tagliatelle with peas, pecorino, mint and chiles,

    So good and tasty-sounding of an idea!!! Pasta and peas are my favorite.

  18. I made the creamed spinach with spaghetti and nutmeg for lunch today. It was delicious.

  19. La Lubu: that

    My grandmother would approve of this.

    To be honest, though, we never really had primavera growing up. I make it occasionally when I want to use up some veggies before they go bad, but I usually just call it pasta salad or something. I hate tomatoes in it, too. If I’m making a tomato-based sauce, I don’t like it cluttered with other vegetables.

  20. Jill, you are simply the best (with this and so many other posts!) – thanks for bringing my food perspective and feminist perspective together – and AH-greed on pasta primavera – can’t wait to try these remixes!

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