Quick Garden Pasta Primavera

This quick, colorful dish is summer in a bowl, packed with veggies fresh from the garden. It’s endlessly flexible and comes together in under 30 minutes, perfect for busy weeknights on the farm or in town.  This recipe is using veg that is fresh from our garden right now, but feel free to swap them out for what you have available. This is super flexible. 

Ingredients:

• 12 oz pasta (penne, farfalle, or rotini)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 an onion, sliced 
  
• 1 sliced zucchini
• 1 sliced summer squash
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  
• Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste
• Grated parmesan or crumbled chevre
• Fresh basil, chopped

Instructions:

1. Boil pasta until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta water, then drain and put it back in it's pot with the reserved pasta water. While pasta is still hot, season with salt and pepper and crumble cheese on top. Mix until creamy.
2. While pasta cooks, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
3. Add onion and sauté until slightly brown at the edges. Toss in your chopped vegetables and cook until just tender. Bright and crisp is what you're aiming for. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to season. 
4. Add garlic and 1/2 of your basil.  Sauté for 1 minute. (It's at this point that I add a splash of dry vermouth to the pan and let the veg soak up all of the flavor. This is optional, but divine.)
   
5. Add seasoned pasta to the skillet. Toss everything together, adding a splash of pasta water if needed to loosen things up.
6. I finish the pasta with a sprinkle of our Italian herbed salt, top with cheese and basil, and serve warm.

🌱 Farm note: This recipe is a great way to use up that daily flood of zucchini, tomatoes, and beans. It tastes different every time depending on what’s ripe!