This pasta primavera recipe is light, fresh, and simple to make. Packed with colorful veggies, it's the perfect easy dinner for spring or summer night.
I love to make this pasta primavera recipe after a trip to the farmers market in early summer. I come home with bags full of produce. Some contain spring veggies like asparagus and peas that will only be available for a few more weeks. Others hold summer finds like zucchini, squash, and cherry tomatoes whose season is just starting. The moment when all these spring and summer vegetables collide is so brief that I feel like I have to celebrate it. So, I cook a pot of pasta, sauté the veggies, and toss them together to make this pasta primavera recipe.
Pasta Primavera Recipe Ingredients
While pasta primavera means “spring pasta” in Italian, the dish itself is actually American. The story goes that it originated at the New York restaurant Le Cirque in the 1970s, and in the years following, it started popping up on Italian restaurant menus all over the US. The original version featured spaghetti and a rich butter and cream sauce, but these days, the name “pasta primavera” is given to all sorts of veggie pastas.
Here’s what I use in my take:
- Pasta, of course! I like to use penne pasta because the noodles are a similar size to the chopped vegetables. It makes it easy to get a little of everything in each bite!
- Garlic and red onion – For savory depth of flavor.
- Yellow squash and zucchini – Feel free to use just one or the other if you can’t find both!
- Asparagus – For complexity and crunch.
- Cherry tomatoes – They become soft and bursty, lightly coating the pasta in their juices.
- Peas – I often use thawed frozen peas, though if you happen to have fresh shell peas, you could totally blanch them and toss them in.
- Pecorino cheese – It makes the pasta lightly creamy. Parmesan cheese would be great here too!
- Fresh lemon juice – I love its bright flavor with all the fresh vegetables.
- Red pepper flakes – They add a little heat.
- Fresh basil and tarragon – They bring so much flavor to this simple pasta dish. Technically, the tarragon is optional, but if you can find it, I highly recommend using it. It really takes this recipe over the top!
- And salt and pepper – To make all the flavors pop.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Pasta Primavera
This pasta primavera has to be one of the simplest dinner recipes on Love & Lemons. It’s so easy to make! Here’s how it goes:
First, cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water. Drain it when it’s just al dente. It’ll cook a little more with the veggies on the stove, so you want to be careful not to overcook it now. Toss the pasta with a drizzle of oil to prevent sticking.
Next, sauté the veggies. I LOVE that all the vegetables cook in one pan in this recipe! Heat a glug of olive oil in a large skillet, and toss in the garlic, onion, zucchini, squash, asparagus, and cherry tomatoes. It only takes a few minutes for the vegetables to soften.
Then, add the pasta, peas, cheese, and lemon juice. Toss until the cheese melts down and coats the pasta in a lightly creamy sauce. Stir in the fresh herbs, and season to taste.
Finally, garnish with more basil, and serve!
Pasta Primavera Serving Suggestions
This pasta primavera makes a fantastic meal on its own, though if you like, you could certainly pair it with a side dish or two. We love it with buttery slices of garlic bread and a side salad. Try serving it with any of these salad recipes:
- Simple Green Salad
- Italian Chopped Salad
- Arugula Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
- Zucchini Salad
- Bright Spring Salad
Enjoy!
More Favorite Pasta Recipes
If you love this pasta primavera recipe, try one of these fresh pasta recipes next:
- Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
- Tagliatelle with Asparagus and Peas
- Linguine with Lemon and Tomatoes
- Cauliflower Pasta
- Cherry Tomato Pasta
- Pesto Pasta
- Roasted Vegetable Pasta
- Or any of these 25 Easy Pasta Recipes!
Pasta Primavera
Ingredients
- 10 ounces penne pasta
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 yellow squash, sliced into thin half moons
- 1 zucchini, sliced into thin half moons
- 1 bunch asparagus, chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup thinly sliced red onion
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup frozen peas, thawed
- ¾ cup grated pecorino cheese
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Red pepper flakes
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish
- ¼ cup fresh tarragon, optional
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare the pasta according to the package instructions, cooking until al dente. Drain and toss with a drizzle of olive oil to prevent sticking.
- Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, squash, zucchini, asparagus, tomatoes, onion, salt, and several grinds of pepper and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
- Add the pasta, peas, cheese, lemon juice, and a pinch of red pepper flakes and toss to combine. Stir in the basil and tarragon, if using.
- Season to taste, garnish with more basil, and serve.
I received a reminder email about May cooking club and had some fresh asparagus from the farmers market so I decided to make the Pasta Primavera. I made the recipe using all the listed ingredients and was able to find fresh tarragon, an herb I had never used before. I used gluten free penne pasta. My family absolutely loved this dish and said it is a “keeper!” Thanks for the recipe! Cherri Blair- Drayton
Made this recipe for dinner tonight. It was simple to make and took no time to cook it. My husband loved it too.
Love this recipe! I had a bunch of odds and ends to use up from my garden and this was the perfect use for it all. I used spaghetti squash instead of pasta and roasted my veggies (eggplant, zucchini, asparagus, carrots, onions, and mushrooms) in the oven until tender (I am not one for crispy veggies) and tossed in some peas at the end. The result was light and flavorful and perfect with a side of crusty bread. I always appreciate versatile recipes that can be easily changed up for whatever is on hand and this worked perfectly. Yum!
This was nice! Great Spring comfort food.
This lemony “burst of summer” dinner was fun to put together, and a delight to dine on! The fresh veggies with basil & parmesan made our taste buds dance! Thanks for another winner of a recipe!
Delicious! I love the tarragon in here!!
Light and refreshing! Freshly grated parmesan was a nice addition as well!
Loved this recipe! Easy to prepare, healthy and makes great leftovers.
I’m so glad you loved it!
This is my favourite of all of the cooking club recipes so far. Delicious.
Hi Brenda, Love hearing that! So glad you enjoyed the pasta.
Hi Denise, so glad you loved it!
This was deliciously filling and fresh! I served room temp at a potluck, so waited to add cheese until right before serving and it worked great.
Hi Erin, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
My girlfriend and I found this recipe delicious, easy to follow, and easy to modify if needed. I did wonder if maybe the asparagus should be cooked for longer than, say, the cherry tomatoes? By the time our asparagus was tender, the cherry tomatoes were a bit more cooked than I would have liked. Maybe it’s just a personal preference thing. Either way, great recipe! I will definitely make it again!
Hi Nina, so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Feel free to add the tomatoes later next time if you prefer. 🙂
Loved this recipe! Made extra for lunches – it’s great warm or cold. Thank you!
Hi Joy, I’m so glad you loved it!
Loved this quick and easy dinner! I used red lentil penne and added fresh mozzarella at the end.
Hi Andrea, so glad you loved it!
This is a great and easy recipe. I love that there’s a ton of vegetables but you add them to the pan at the same time. I topped mine with vegan noochy parm.
Hi Shira, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
We loved this spring pasta as we ate on the back deck with a drink! The flavors are fresh and the colors are fun!! Will be making this again!
Hi Miranda, I’m so glad you loved it!
So fresh and zingy with the lemon juice. I added capers too. Keeper.
So glad you loved it!
Made this and my husband loved it! Such a refreshing pasta dish!
Hi Naomi, I’m so glad it was a hit!
Made this recipe last night and it is now one of my faves. So easy, so tasty, I am wondering how it would freeze because it is just me eating it at home and while I would love eating it for the next 4 days as a main course, I like to eat things like this hot the first day and after that put over mixed greens adding walnuts or almonds and if needed a touch more olive oil
Hi Roxane, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I think it would freeze alright – it’ll of course be best on the first day, but I think it would be delicious and handy to have on hand in the freezer. I do what you do – add a splash of olive oil after reheating to liven it up.
Fantastic recipe–we will make it again and again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!