Ready in 20 minutes, this delicious spring vegetable pasta is a plate of sunshine! The zesty dressing makes this a sophisticated vegan main dish.
As I contemplated our dinner recently, the sun was shining, the temperature was climbing, birds were singing, and flowers were blooming. Spring was most definitely in the air.
Sadly, it lasted all of five minutes! But even though it’s now cold and windy, I have a spring in my step at least. To be fair, the weather hasn’t completely returned to grim wintery freeze. I suppose it’s best described as ‘changeable’. And a change is as good as a rest, right?
Spring is in the air
Having been inspired by the impending Spring, I set about creating a Spring vegetable pasta dish for our dinner. Of course, the classic Pasta Primavera is about a Springy as it gets – its name means ‘Spring pasta’ after all. It’s basically a dish of pasta and crisply cooked vegetables, and according to Wikipedia, “Pasta primavera is usually highlighted by light flavors, aromatic herbs and bright colors.”
Yum.
Steamed spring vegetables
I steamed a selection of bright, fresh, spring vegetables over the pan of cooking pasta, and whizzed up a fresh and zesty herb dressing to drizzle over the top. It was completely delicious, and also has the advantage of being completely vegan. Hurrah.
Spring vegetable pasta ingredients
I used the assortment of fresh spring vegetables that I had to hand, but honestly, you could use whatever spring veggies you can find and I’m sure this would be just as delicious. Just make sure to mix up several different sorts so you get plenty of colour and texture, and of course lots of lovely vitamins and minerals! You can use any pasta shape you like, although I think a short chunky pasta is best for this dish.
To make this Spring vegetable pasta, I used:
- pasta – of course!
- baby carrots
- little Brussels sprouts
- leeks
- fresh asparagus spears
- sprouting broccoli florets
- fresh basil leaves
- fresh mint leaves
- extra virgin olive oil
- freshly squeezed lemon juice
The zingy, herby dressing is absolutely delicious! You can also use it just to dress vegetables as a side dish – so good!
The power of vegetables
My daughter Kipper was in full on meltdown by the time this reached the table, as DH had politely requested that she put down her book and come and eat some dinner. It must have been a really good book. It was lucky that I had planned to serve this warm, rather than hot, because by the time she’d had a cuddle and calmed down it was actually approaching tepid. Sigh. Still, good to know that a steamed asparagus spear can turn a stroppy pre-schooler back into a human being. Phew.
We eat TONS of vegetables in this house, so this was easily polished off by the three of us, but this amount of veggies would probably serve 4 normal-vegetable-eating people.
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Warm spring vegetable pasta with lemon-herb dressing
Ingredients
- 100 g baby carrots
- 80 g baby brussels sprouts
- 1 medium leek
- 100 g fine asparagus spears
- 80 g broccoli florets
- 150-200 g pasta
For the dressing
- ½ lemon – zest and juice
- Generous handful of basil leaves
- 2-3 sprigs mint
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Scrub and trim the carrots. Trim and halve the sprouts. Trim, clean & slice the leek into 6-7mm (approx. ¼ inch) slices. Rinse the asparagus and broccoli. Place all the vegetables in a large steamer basket.
- Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions. Place the steamer of vegetables over the pan for the last five minutes of cooking.
- To make the dressing, use a hand blender or mini-chopper to whizz all the ingredients into an emulsified liquid.
- Once the pasta is cooked, drain and divide between plates. Top with the vegetables and drizzle over the dressing. (Alternatively, simply toss the pasta, vegetables and dressing together.) Allow to cool slightly and serve warm.
Nutrition
More quick and delicious pasta recipes
If you love quick pasta dinners, you’ll probably also enjoy this gorgeous and vibrant beetroot pasta with yogurt, this delicious quick courgette and cherry tomato pasta with feta, or this gooey wild mushroom and spinach one-pot pasta dinner.
kerrycooks
Yummy, this looks delicious! And it was pretty spring like this weekend!
FFF
Thanks Kerry! Yes, I think after all my misgivings, Spring may really have arrived 🙂
Lucy @ BakingQueen74
How tasty! I bet my family would love this too, though perhaps we wouldn’t manage to eat that much veg between us. The dressing sounds very good, going to try this soon!
FFF
Thanks Lucy. I hope you enjoy it! We do eat a ridiculous amount of veg. DH jokes that we get our 5-a-day at every meal!
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy
This sounds really delicious. I am loving the simple dressing too.
FFF
Thanks Dannii. It was so easy and super tasty