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Monday, January 11, 2010

Jan. 11 - Pasta Primavera

In the wake of yesterday's highly-caloric dinner at Misconduct Tavern, I thought it would be a good idea to make a healthier dinner. I decided to do a pasta primavera (okay, yeah, the sauce was probably laden with calories, but there were a ton of veggies, so I felt a lot less guilty). I'd never made this, but had it in my collection for quite some time.

Knowing the boy wouldn't eat the veggies, I made extra sauce, but that was unnecessary - he was easily able to pick around the stuff he didn't want. Linds liked it, too - ate most of the veggies and all of the pasta. I couldn't believe how much of the dinner she ate - she had already eaten a waffle with peanut butter, craisins, strawberries, yogurt and granola (just for breakfast!), tomato soup and pretzels (lunch), and a 100-calorie snack bag of popcorn for snack. This kid has my appetite (and luckily the boy's metabolism!). Luke ate well, today, too - blueberries and apples for breakfast, chicken and squash for lunch, and bananas for dinner. He even snacked on some Gerber Puffs - some of which he picked up himself!

Below is the pasta primavera recipe. Prep time and cook time are about 30 minutes total. It's not something I'd make often, but it was a nice change to our typical spaghetti and marinara pasta dishes. Enjoy!

Pasta Primavera
Ingredients
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup chicken broth
1 T unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
6 thin asparagus spears
1 cup each diced zucchini and yellow squash
1 (10 oz) package frozen peas and carrots
1 lb fresh fettuccine
1/2 pint grape tomatoes
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Torn basil leaves

Directions
  1. Heat large pot of salted water to boiling. 
  2. In a food processor, puree the ricotta, broth, butter, salt and pepper. Pour into a large heatproof bowl. 
  3. Add asparagus, zucchini, squash and peas and carrots to the pot. While vegetables are cooking, place heatproof bowl on top of pot to warm the sauce. 
  4. Cook vegetables 2 to 3 minutes; remove with slotted spoon to bowl with sauce. 
  5. Add pasta to same pot of boiling water and cook 3 minutes; drain and toss with vegetables, sauce and tomatoes. Top with Parmesan cheese and basil.

1 comment:

Amy said...

wow Erica, it really sounds like Luke is coming along with the solids! I haven't tried meat with Helena yet. Way to go, mama!

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