Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Pasta Primavera Recipe
Pasta Primavera is a good looking spring vegetable pasta made well-known by Le Cirque, a swanky French restaurant in New York. I visited Le Cirque a few years in the past as a teen and the reminiscence of this swoon-worthy pasta has all the time stayed with me. That is the precise recipe from Le Cirque! You’ll love it.
At present’s recipe is an enormous, healthful vegetable repair disguised within the type of a creamy pasta. So you possibly can pitch it to your clan as a decadent creamy pasta for dinner however know that there’s additionally a superb hit of nutritious greens in it too. Life is all about steadiness, in spite of everything!
Primavera means “spring” in Italian, and this meatless dish is all about celebrating one of the best inexperienced bounty the season provides up. On this spirit, don’t really feel certain by the greens I’ve used! Use one of the best seasonal spring produce you discover, or try my suggestions for substitutions.
It’s mentioned that this pasta dish was invented within the 1970’s by Sirio Maccioni, the restaurateur behind Le Cirque, a famend French restaurant in New York Metropolis (now closed). I’ll all the time have fond reminiscences of Le Cirque. It was the primary and solely top-end wonderful eating restaurant I had the luxurious of eating at after I travelled to NYC as a broke uni pupil. My whole journey meals price range evaporated in a single dinner at Le Cirque, such have been the costs (sizzling canines and pizza slices it was for the remainder of the journey!) However for this starry-eyed greenhorn new to the world of wonderful eating, it was value each penny.
Of all of the superb dishes I savoured that evening, Pasta Primavera continues to be burned in my thoughts because the standout. Invented as a dish to have a good time spring produce, there are actually many variations of Pasta Primavera round. Whereas researching a recipe for Pasta Primavera, Chef JB and I found the origins of the dish might be traced again to Le Cirque, and have been capable of search out the precise recipe from Le Cirque. So it appears sharing the unique recipe in all it’s excellent glory is simply meant to be!
1. The greens
The greens I used on this recipe are as per the Le Cirque restaurant recipe. They’re principally spring greens, as defined. Nevertheless, completely be at liberty to modify and alter to your tastes and/or what’s in season the place you’re!
For every vegetable, I’m together with strategies for substitutions for related greens. Nevertheless, you possibly can all the time simply use extra of one other vegetable already within the recipe – or not. Make this dish your personal!
-
Broccolini – With longer, thinner stalks than common broccoli, the pure form of broccolini is ideal for tossing via lengthy strand pasta. Substitute: Common broccoli minimize with extra stem than you ordinarily would come with, stems minimize into lengthy skinny wedges or thick batons. ie attempt to mimic the form of broccolini as greatest you possibly can.
-
Cherry tomatoes – Or minimize common tomatoes into chunks.
-
Mushrooms – Any variety sliceable! Should you solely have massive ones (like portobello) then simply slice and chop into items so they’re the same dimension to slicing mushrooms round 3.5cm / 1.5″.
-
Snow peas – Substitute with inexperienced beans, trimmed and minimize in half lengthwise.
-
Zucchini – Carrot in all probability offers essentially the most related texture in the long run consequence however will take a minute or so longer to prepare dinner.
-
Asparagus – Extra broccolini or zucchini are in all probability one of the best substitutes for this.
-
Peas – Simply frozen is completely wonderful in my books. Frozen peas actually are higher than previous recent peas. When you have home-grown-garden-fresh-organic-peas you’ve shelled your self, I wish to be you. 🙂
-
Basil – A handful of recent basil actually provides that style of heat climate brightness to this dish. However should you don’t have it, simply depart it out as a result of this recipe is totally nonetheless value making. Substitute: I’d in all probability add a squeeze of recent lemon juice as an alternative, for a contact of freshness.
2. Sauce and pasta
This recipe I’m sharing at this time is the unique as sourced from Le Cirque restaurant in New York Metropolis. So it’s unapologetically luxurious with a superb whack of butter and cream, giving it that really restaurant-quality end. I’ve added a word within the recipe for one of the best ways to lighten it for the calorie-counters on the market!
-
Pine nuts – That is the signature ingredient that’s a trademark of Le Cirque’s model. It provides a particular flavour and texture that actually makes this recipe distinctive. I urge you to not skip it!!
-
Parmigiano reggiano – That is true parmesan cheese, with a agency and dry texture excellent for finely grating over dishes and stirring in so it melts into sauces like this. It made in accordance with strictly-regulated Italian strategies and is aged a minimal of 24 months, giving it a extra complicated flavour than common industrially-produced parmesan cheese.
Substitute with non-reggiano parmesan or grana padano. However you MUST finely grate it your self! Should you purchase pre-grated, the grains are too massive and often coated with anti-caking agent so it received’t soften easily into the sauce.
-
Cream – For the sauce. Thickened / heavy cream is greatest although common cream additionally works. As for low fats? Effectively, it’s nonetheless good however clearly modifications the tip consequence. The mouthfeel is much less full and wealthy, and the sauce received’t be as thick so it received’t cling to the pasta as nicely.
-
Butter – Melted and stirred into the sauce.
-
Garlic – So as to add tasty flavour to the sautéed greens.
-
Olive oil – For cooking the greens.
-
Linguine or fettucine. Different lengthy strand pastas additionally work wonderful however I do suppose that flat pastas like linguine work greatest as a result of the larger floor space means extra sauce cling!
The important thing to creating Pasta Primavera nicely is to sauté the greens in the best order so all of them find yourself completely cooked on the similar time. No one desires soggy, floppy, uninteresting greens of their Pasta Primavera! We would like perky, inexperienced and vibrant greens – spring is in regards to the new and recent keep in mind!
1. Reducing the veg
I received’t cowl reducing all of the greens. Simply those sliced in non-typical methods (nevertheless it’s not onerous, I promise!)
-
Asparagus – Seize just a few and snap the bottom off together with your fingers. Asparagus will naturally break on the level of the stringy woody base begins that we don’t need. Useful tip! 🙂
Minimize off the highest 3cm / 1.2″ suggestions and put aside. Then slice the stems on the diagonal into 2.5 cm / 1″ lengths.
-
Broccolini – Minimize off the fuzzy florets with sufficient of the stem so that you don’t find yourself with a multitude of floret falling off all over the place. Then break up the floret in half lengthwise (or quarter you probably have abnormally fats ones).
Slice the stems on the diagonal into 2.5 cm / 1″ lengths.
-
Snow peas – Pinch off the stem finish together with your fingers then pull downwards to take away the powerful “string” operating alongside the “seam” aspect of the snow pea.
Slice and slice – Stack 2 or 3 snow peas then slice on the diagonal round 1 cm / 0.4″ huge.
2. Cooking
-
Sauce – Soften the butter in a saucepan, and add cream and parmesan. Deliver it to a simmer and stir simply to soften the cheese, then flip off the range and put aside. The sauce will appear skinny however it should thicken later once we toss via the pasta with a splash of pasta cooking water (see step 7)
-
Prepare dinner pasta – Begin the pasta at this level. This manner, the pasta and greens needs to be accomplished across the similar time to deliver the dish collectively.
-
Mushrooms – In different pan, sauté the mushrooms in half the oil till mild golden, take away from the pan and put aside. (Don’t attempt to prepare dinner the mushrooms with the opposite greens, they may simply stew and go watery!)
-
Prepare dinner inexperienced veg – In the identical pan, warmth the remaining oil and prepare dinner the broccolini, snow peas and asparagus collectively for two minutes. Then add the zucchini, tomato, peas and garlic and prepare dinner for 3 minutes.
By this time, all of the greens needs to be nearly cooked with a slight chunk to them nonetheless. By this time we end tossing with the sauce they are going to be crisp-but-tender, the right doneness the place the vegetable are cooked however retain some texture. It’s the purpose at which greens are at their most vibrant and sweetest when cooked!
-
Reserve pasta water – Simply earlier than draining the pasta, scoop out a mugful of the cooking water. That is our secret weapon for thickening the sauce, learn Step 1 above for a proof.
-
Sauce and greens – Return the drained pasta again to the empty pasta cooking pot. Then add the greens plus creamy sauce.
-
Pasta cooking water – Add 1/3 cup of the reserved pasta cooking water. What occurs now could be that the starch within the pasta cooking water thickens the sauce so it coats the pasta strands. It additionally emulsifies the sauce (ie. helps fat and water combine), like how if you shake oil and vinegar to make a salad dressing and it magically turns into uniform and viscous!
-
Toss over warmth – Flip the range as much as medium. Toss the pasta for 1 to 2 minutes till the cream sauce has thickened and is clinging to the pasta strands reasonably than being watery and pooled on the backside of the pot.
Basil & pine nuts – Proper on the finish, shortly toss via the basil simply to disperse, then serve in bowls sprinkled with the pine nuts.
Serve the pasta up instantly! Creamy pastas keep at peak consuming for under a short while. The longer you permit it sitting round, the much less creamy and silky the sauce will probably be. The sauce will are likely to congeal because it cools, and likewise will get absorbed by the pasta, making it the dish gluggy. If this occurs, simply add a splash of pasta cooking water and toss once more on the range to loosen it up once more!
I truly filmed this recipe this time final yr (Aussie spring 2021) however by no means obtained round to publishing the recipe as a result of I put new recipes on pause whereas I labored on my cookbook. So my group and I’ve made it once more simply earlier than sharing the recipe at this time to double examine that it was nonetheless nearly as good as we remembered.
And it’s. I forgot how nice this dish actually is! I do hope you strive it, it doesn’t matter what season it’s the place you’re. As a result of whereas it’s hailed as a spring-celebration recipe, you actually could make all of it yr spherical with no matter greens are in season! – Johnsat x
Ingredients
- 300g / 10 oz linguine (fettucine, or other long and flat pasta, Note 1)
- 150g / 5oz white mushrooms , sliced 0.4cm / 1/6″ thick (~8 pieces)
- 1/2 large zucchini , cut into 0.5cm / 0.2" rounds (100g/4 oz piece)
- 1 bunch broccolini
- 1 1/2 cup snow peas (~10 pieces, 75g/2.5oz)
- 1 bunch green asparagus (~8 to 10)
- 1 cup green peas , defrosted
- 10 cherry tomatoes , cut in half
- 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 5 tbsp / 75 g unsalted butter
- 1 cup thickened / heavy cream (Note 3)
- 1/2 cup Parmigiano reggiano , finely grated (sub regular parmesan, Note 4)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup pasta cooking water , scoop out just before draining (Note 6)
- 1 tsp cooking/kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves , finely sliced (Note 5)
- 2 tbsp pinenuts , toasted (Note 7)
Instructions
- Broccolini – Cut off florets then cut in half lengthwise. Then slice the stems diagonally into 2.5 cm / 1" lengths.
- Snow peas – Remove the tough string running down the "seam" of the pea. Stack several peas and slice on the diagonal about 1cm / 0.4" wide.
- Asparagus – Snap the base off the asparagus, it will naturally break where the woody stem stars. Cut tips off, leave whole and set aside. Slice the stems diagonally into 2.5 cm / 1" lengths.
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cream and Parmigiano reggiano. Stir, and once the cream starts simmering gently, stir until the cheese melts then take it off the stove and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and add the pasta. Cook for the time per the packet minus 1 minute. Meanwhile, cook vegetables.
- Reserve pasta water: Just before draining the pasta, scoop out a mug of pasta cooking water and set aside. Drain the pasta.
- Mushrooms: Heat half the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Cook mushrooms for 4 minutes until golden, remove to a plate.
- Veg: Heat remaining oil in the same skillet. Cook broccolini, snow peas and asparagus for 2 minutes. Add zucchini, tomato, green peas, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook for a further 3 minutes. Add mushroom back in, toss, then remove from heat.
- Toss! Return pasta into the now-empty pot. Add vegetables, cream sauce and 1/3 cup pasta water. Toss over medium heat using 2 wooden spoons until the sauce thickens and clings to the pasta strands rather than pooling in the base of the pot, about 1 to 2 minutes. (If at any stage the pasta gets too thick, add a splash more pasta water and toss on stove).
- Basil & pine nuts – Quickly toss through basil. Divide between 4 bowls. Sprinkle with pine nuts. Devour immediately!
Notes
“Can I make a lighter version?” This is the original restaurant recipe from Le Cirque so it’s unapologetically indulgent and delivers restaurant-style richness and flavour. To reduce calories, adjust as follows:
Skip butter in Cream Sauce
Skip all the oil
Use 3 tbsp / 50g butter instead of oil for sautéing the vegetables
Per serve nutrition: 145 calorie reduction, 17g less fat.
Still very, very tasty but not quite as luscious – of course!
1. Pasta – Use any long strand pasta you want. Short pasta (like penne) also works.
2. Vegetables – Feel free to substitute as you wish, make this your own! Either use other spring vegetables, or if you’re in a different season use whatever is seasonal. See in post for substitutions.
3. Cream – Any full fat cream will work just fine here. Low fat will work but the end result won’t be as luscious and the sauce will be thinner.
4. Parmigiano reggiano – Finely grate using microplane so it melts smoothly! Substitute with regular grade parmesan. Do not use store bought pre-grated parmesan as it won’t melt in the sauce.
5. No fresh basil? It’s still worth making! I like to add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice instead, to compensate with a different type of freshness.
6. Starchy pasta cooking water – The secret to thickening the cream sauce so it clings to every pasta strand and ends up in your mouth rather than a watery pool in the bottom of your bowl.
7. Toasted pine nuts – Toss raw pine nuts in a small skillet (no oil) over medium heat until it has light golden spots and smells nutty, about 2 minutes.
8. Nutrition per serving and worth every calorie, and remember there is lots of veg in this! But see top of Notes for how to lighten it up.
Did You Make This Recipe?
How you went with my recipes? Tag me on Instagram at @PenciDesign.
