Description
This Pasta Primavera recipe, made famous by Le Cirque restaurant in NYC, features a creamy sauce paired with vibrant, tender-crisp vegetables. A perfect blend of indulgence and health-conscious cooking, it’s a restaurant-quality dish made simple for your kitchen!
Ingredients
Scale
Pasta:
- 300g / 10 oz linguine (or other long, flat pasta)
Vegetables:
- 150g / 5 oz white mushrooms, sliced (1/6″ thick)
- 1/2 large zucchini, sliced into 0.2” rounds
- 1 bunch broccolini
- 1 1/2 cups snow peas (~10 pieces)
- 1 bunch green asparagus (~8–10 spears)
- 1 cup green peas, defrosted
- 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
Cream Sauce:
- 5 tbsp / 75 g unsalted butter
- 1 cup thickened / heavy cream
- 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated
For Cooking:
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup pasta cooking water
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, sliced
- 2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
Instructions
- Prepare Vegetables:
- Slice broccolini florets and stems, cut asparagus and snow peas diagonally, and prepare zucchini and mushrooms.
- Make Cream Sauce:
- Melt butter over medium heat. Add cream and Parmigiano Reggiano, stirring until smooth. Set aside.
- Cook Pasta:
- Boil pasta in salted water per package instructions, minus 1 minute. Reserve 1/3 cup pasta water before draining.
- Cook Vegetables:
- Sauté mushrooms until golden, then set aside. Sauté remaining vegetables for 3–5 minutes with salt, pepper, and garlic.
- Combine:
- Toss pasta with vegetables, cream sauce, and reserved pasta water over medium heat until sauce clings to pasta.
- Finish:
- Toss in basil. Serve immediately, garnished with pine nuts.
Notes
- For a lighter version, skip butter in the sauce and reduce oil.
- Feel free to swap vegetables for seasonal produce.
- Use finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano for best results; avoid pre-grated cheese.
Nutrition
- Calories: 874
- Sugar: 11g
- Sodium: 825mg
- Fat: 56g
- Saturated Fat: 27g
- Carbohydrates: 74g
- Fiber: 7g
- Protein: 23g
- Cholesterol: 116mg