Farm Share Pasta Primavera

Fresh spring vegetables, lightly blanched and tossed with pasta in a creamy sauce. A simple, fast vegetarian dish to let the flavors of Spring shine.

Joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share typically means you make the choice to eat more seasonally. Being a seasonal eater means by the end of one season I'm anticipating the next. Being a seasonal eater with a food blog means I'm working 9 months to a year behind as we approach the end of a season. Perhaps I could turn the frown upside down and say I'm working ahead. I mean, yesterday I made 2 desserts that will appear in April and July, respectively.

As my spouse and I resume our evening walks I see signs of Spring all over--except for my garden, which is still looking like a not-quite-ready compost pile. [It makes me realize how impressed I am with the ingenuity of farmers. With hard work, hoop houses and row covers, they manage to get a jump on Mother Nature every year.] It will be a couple of months until the local vegetables are ready for me to share current recipe ideas.  Instead, I rely on notes [notes get misplaced, it's a spiral binder for me now] a notebook and a well-labeled photo library to bring ideas for what to do with your produce.

This recipe has been on the second* page of my current spiral notebook for 10 months. I made it in the early weeks of the farm share, when the fast-growing crops--like peas and radishes--are abundant in the box. This pasta reminded me of the satisfying and quickly assembled meals my vegetarian roommates and I would fix, then enjoy on the porch while the evenings were ever-lighter and the weather still cool enough that a warm bowl of pasta was appreciated. [You could totally eat this cold, I just prefer the flavors warm.]

For other recipes using broccoli, please see my Broccoli Recipes Collection, for other recipes using carrots, please see my Carrot Recipes Collection, for other recipes using peas, please see my Pea Recipes Collection, for other recipes using radishes, please see my Radish Recipes Collection. These are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient--since it's the easiest way to figure out what to fix in my opinion. If you want to pin your ideas, you're welcome to follow me on Pinterest.

Farm Share Pasta Primavera (serves 4 to 6)

4½ to 5 cups carrot slices
3½ to 4 cups broccoli florets
2½ to 3 cups pea pods, ends trimmed
¼ cup sliced radishes
½ pound shaped pasta of your choice
¼ cup diced onion
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (I used Pasta Sprinkle)
½ teaspoon salt (I used kosher)
½ teaspoon--about--freshly ground pepper
to serve--grated parm or cheddar cheese if desired

Get the pasta going--bring salted water to a boil in a large heavy pot. Add carrots and broccoli to the water, let boil for a minute, then scoop out and place them in a colander in the sink. Run cold water over the vegetables to stop the cooking. Place pea pods and radishes on top of the vegetables in the colander. Prepare pasta according to package directions, and drain by pouring over the vegetables.
In a large bowl, combine onion, sour cream, and cream cheese with a whisk until smooth. Whisk in spices.  Dump drained pasta and vegetables into sauce and toss in bowl. Serve with cheese and extra freshly ground pepper.

*Now if I can get the Orange & Beet Muffins recipe posted from the first page of that spiral notebook, I tear that page out with a satisfying riiiiiiip, and toss it into the recycling bag!