Pasta Primavera – Kate Bittman

Ingredients

Salt
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
½ teaspoon red chile flakes, or to taste
1-½ pounds mixed spring vegetables (like asparagus, spinach or other tender greens, snap peas, snow peas, radishes, baby carrots or turnips, shelled fava beans, or peas), chopped
Pepper
½ cup cream
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 pound any pasta
½ cup chopped fresh chervil or mint for garnish

Bring a large pot of water to boil and salt it. Put the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the red chile flakes and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add the vegetables and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are crisp-tender, 3 to 10 minutes, depending on the vegetables (add any vegetables with a much longer cooking time, like root vegetables, 5 minutes before the rest). Add the cream and 1/4 cup of the parmesan, and cook until heated through and thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn off the heat.
When the water comes to a boil, add the pasta. Stir occasionally, and start tasting the pasta after 5 minutes. When the pasta is tender but not mushy, drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the vegetables and turn the heat to low. Toss to combine, adding a little reserved cooking water at a time to loosen the sauce, if necessary. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Garnish with the herbs and the remaining parmesan and serve.