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This Creamy Pasta Primavera recipe is a fresh and tasty medley of spring vegetables nestled in a lemony cream sauce. It’s simple to make and fast!
This post is sponsored by DeLallo – thank you for supporting the brands that keep Salt & Lavender cooking! I only work with brands whose products I love. All opinions are my own.
Pasta Primavera was actually invented in the USA in the ’70s (not Italy). “Primavera” simply means “spring” in Italian, and this dish is filled with spring vegetables. There’s no hard or fast rule of what goes in here, so it’s pretty forgiving. I added some balance and freshness to the cream sauce by adding some lemon juice. The tomatoes and basil also add brightness to the sauce. It’s comfort food lightened up!
For the primavera sauce, I’ve included DeLallo’s Soffritto Sautéed Vegetable Cooking Base (it’s a tasty mix of cooked onions, carrots, and celery in sunflower & olive oil). It’s beautifully fragrant and a great way to add concentrated flavor to a dish fast. The sauce is tossed with DeLallo’s Pappardelle Egg Pasta. Those broad ribbons are perfect for enjoying all those lovely veggies and the delicate cream sauce.
How to make creamy pasta primavera
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Boil water for the pappardelle and cook it al dente;
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Prep the sauce ingredients;
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Add the soffritto base, asparagus, peas, bell pepper, zucchini, and garlic to the skillet and sauté, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender-crisp. Remove the vegetables from the skillet and set aside;
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Add the chopped tomato, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, and cream to the skillet & let it reduce for about 3 minutes;
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Finish off the sauce by stirring the parmesan cheese and basil in and then adding the vegetables back to the skillet & letting them warm through.
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Drain the pappardelle and toss it with the sauce.
Easy! (Full ingredients and instructions are in the recipe card below.)
Recipe notes & tips:
- Any vegetable that’s in season can work for this dish as long as it’s chopped fairly small so it cooks at a similar rate to the other vegetables in the dish. If you don’t like asparagus, for example, you could replace it with broccoli or broccolini.
- If you want to add a protein to this meal, I suggest adding shrimp (you can quickly sauté them along with the vegetables) or already cooked chicken.
- I don’t recommend subbing the heavy cream for milk or half-and-half because there’s a chance the tomatoes and lemon juice will curdle the sauce.
More delicious pasta recipes to try:
Will you give this Creamy Pasta Primavera recipe a try?
Questions? Made this recipe? Leave me a comment below! And, as always, tag me #saltandlavender on Instagram so I can see your creations.
Creamy Pasta Primavera
This Creamy Pasta Primavera recipe is a fresh and tasty medley of spring vegetables nestled in a lemony cream sauce. It's simple to make and fast!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons DeLallo Soffritto Sautéed Vegetable Cooking Base
- 1 small bunch asparagus (look for thin stems) ends trimmed & cut into smaller pieces
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 bell pepper sliced/chopped
- 1 cup diced zucchini
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 roma tomato chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 3/4 cup heavy/whipping cream
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 8 leaves fresh basil sliced thin
- 1 (8.8 ounce) package Delallo Pappardelle Egg Pasta
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil a large, salted pot of water for the pappardelle and it cook al dente according to package directions.
- Prep your sauce ingredients.
- Add the soffritto base (make sure to get some of the oil as well as the vegetables) to a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the asparagus, peas, bell pepper, zucchini, and garlic to the skillet and sauté, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender-crisp. Remove the vegetables from the skillet (I just add them to a bowl).
- Add the chopped tomato, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, and cream to the skillet. Let it bubble for about 3 minutes or until it's somewhat thickened.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir the parmesan cheese and basil into the sauce and then add the vegetables back to the skillet. Let them warm through. Season with salt & pepper as needed. Drain the pappardelle and toss it with the sauce. Serve immediately with extra parmesan cheese if desired.
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best recipe, i like italian dishes
Thank you!
I was craving creamy pasta primavera and man did your recipe pull through! Soo delicious, I said “mmm” multiple times while eating it. I did not use the cooking base, left out peas, zucchini and pepper and subbed with spinach and mushrooms. Topped with goat cheese at the very end. So good!
That’s wonderful to hear, Leigh! So glad it satisfied your pasta craving!
This was so good! I made it exactly as directed, but added grilled chicken tenderloins that I marinated in olive oil, s&p, garlic and lemon juice. I never took the veggies out of the pan, but just added everything in because I’m lazy and everything came out tender-crisp and perfect. I added a little bit more lemon juice than called for because I love lemon. My Publix didn’t have the cooking base so I added a tsp of the vegetable Better Than Bouillon instead. My husband and 3-year-old loved it!
I’m so pleased you enjoyed this recipe and were able to tweak it based on what you could find, Jen! Thanks for leaving me a comment. 🙂
So yummy! I made my own soffritto. I’d make this again!
I’m so pleased you enjoyed it, Adele! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
I cannot find the Dellalo vegetable cooking base. What could I use instead?
Hi Jo! I’d probably leave it out (I added it as a shortcut to quickly
infuse flavor). If you really want to make it, just sauté some finely chopped onions, carrots, and celery. Or even just do the onions. ☺️
Congrats on the Delallo partnership, so exciting! Pasta can sometimes feel heavy in the warmer months, but this springy recipe looks perfect!
Thank you Ashlyn!