One Pot Pasta Primavera

This Pasta Primavera from https://thegirlonbloor.com is a classic Italian dish. Although its name refers to the spring, it can be consumed during any time of year. The common ingredients of carrots, broccoli and zucchini are usually in season June through October but can occasionally be found as early as April. If you choose to prepare this dish in the wintertime, ingredients are common and are conveniently located in grocery stores year-round. If using home grown vegetables or buying them locally, you may need to make a few adjustments or substitutions based on the growing season and month that you choose to prepare this dish. The good news is, pasta primavera is very versatile, and a wide variety of vegetables can be used in lieu of the classics.

Pasta primavera is generally served at dinnertime but can be prepared for lunch as well. In the U.S. we tend to put a greater emphasis on the last meal of the day. So, if you plan to serve this for dinner, you may consider adding a side dish. Warm garlic bread goes well with most pastas and can be an enticing choice. The veggies in this dish make it colorful and nutritious. It is a great dish to share with people of any age. This meal may be served with grilled or shredded chicken to add flavor and additional protein. Or if desiring to eat vegetarian, it can be easily converted by substituting the poultry stock for an all-vegetable one.

Cost Breakdown

Ingredients	Amount	Unit Cost of Ingredient	Recipe Cost of Ingredient
Olive oil	1 Tbsp	$3.99/16 oz (~2 tbsp = 1 oz)	$0.25
Red onion	1 each	$0.99/lb (1 onion = 8 oz)	$0.50
Garlic cloves	4 each	$1.99/5 bulbs (1 bulb=10-12 cloves)	$0.16
Penne Pasta	1 lb	$1.99/16 oz box	$1.99
Chicken or Vegetable Broth	4 cups	$2.99/32 oz	$2.99
Mixed Fresh Vegetables	4 cups (32 oz)	—	$3.57
– Carrots	6.4 oz	$1.29/16 oz	$0.52
– Zucchini	6.4 oz	$1.59/16 oz	$0.64
– Yellow Peppers	6.4 oz	$1.39/pepper (1 each= 4-5 oz)	$1.39
– Broccoli	6.4 oz	$1.59/16 oz	$0.64
– Canned Peas	6.4 oz	$0.89/15 oz	$0.38
Butter	1 Tbsp	$4.79/lb	$0.05
Salt	1/2 tsp	$1.49/26 oz (1 oz = 6 tsp)	$0.004
Pepper	1/2 tsp	$9.99/6 oz (1 oz=6 tsp)	$0.14
Heavy Cream	1/4 cup	$3.29/1 pt (1 pt = 2 cups)	$0.82
Parmesan Cheese	3/4 cup	$2.49/6 oz (1/4 cup= 2 oz)	$2.49
Parsley, Fresh	1/4 cup	$1.59/bunch (1-2 oz)	$1.06
TOTAL RECIPE COST			$14.02
COST PER SERVING (6 servings)			$2.34

This pasta primavera is easy to prepare and pleasing to the eye. It is a wonderful way to sharpen your kitchen skills and boost your confidence in cooking. As a college student, it may be hard to establish cooking self-efficacy. But having a collection of reliable recipes you can return to will make you a more competent and effective cook. It is a perfect dish to return to time and time again. Since most items are cooked together in one big pot, it requires little prep work and minimal clean up. You can easily impress your dinner guests or save the leftovers for later. It only takes about 20 minutes to cook and 10 minutes to prepare.

Recipe Lightning Round

Reflection and Tips

Our goal in selecting and preparing this recipe was to appeal to the increasing number of college students and to the emerging young adults everywhere. We searched for a dish that included all the major food groups, could be prepared quickly, and that is budget-friendly. This recipe says that it makes 6 servings, and we found each portion to be quite generous. That makes this dish perfect if cooking for a group of roommates, or if you plan on saving/freezing it to be eaten over the period of several days or a few weeks. It’s the ultimate food planner’s choice.

Several skills can be learned and implemented throughout the preparation process of this dish, thus increasing one’s kitchen abilities and level of self-confidence. You will learn the different ways of cutting vegetables, and how to implement dry and moist heat cooking methods – through sautéing the onions and simmering the pasta to al dente. You will also mix up a creamy sauce and learn about appropriate seasoning.

We learned that there is minimal clean up required after cooking this pasta primavera. It is fun to cook with a group so that certain individuals can be chopping the vegetables while others prepare the broth and additional ingredients. As your noodles are simmering, you might consider preheating the oven and preparing a nice cheesy garlic bread to serve on the side.

As we were preparing this meal, we discovered some of the best ways of cubing cucumbers. Make sure to create a flat edge on each side to avoid rolling during the cutting process. We also substituted the chicken broth for chicken bouillon which we dissolved into hot water. It turned out fantastic and was much cheaper. After pouring in the broth, you may find that it doesn’t completely cover the noodles. Don’t worry about that. The vegetables shrink down, and it all softens and comes together quite nicely. Also keep in mind that you’ll be adding more liquid to the pot when pouring in the cream. We decided against adding the can of peas, and as a result the dish tasted fresher and lighter. We didn’t run into any difficulties preparing the meal or performing the cooking techniques, but we did have a slight problem with managing our time. We started preheating the oven too late and ended up broiling our garlic bread rather than baking it. That alteration allowed us to serve all components of the meal at the same time and while they were still hot.

Overall, we loved this dish because it is healthy, allows access to all the major food groups and does not go over budget. It smelled amazing and tasted just as good. It is a comfort food that can be served on almost any occasion. We would not make any alterations to the recipe; flavors were all there and it worked out quite nicely.

RESOURCES:

We found this recipe for Garlic bread very useful! https://bit.ly/FNGarlicBread