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Bowl of primavera pasta

Vegan Pasta Primavera


  • Author: Liz Madsen
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 16 cups 1x
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

This super creamy and light Vegan Pasta Primavera is absolutely packed with fresh vegetables and tons of flavor.


Ingredients

Units Scale

Pasta

  • 16 oz (1 pound or about 454g) pasta of choice (use gluten-free if needed)
  • 1 medium red onion, quartered and thinly sliced
  • 1 cup broccoli florets, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 small zucchini, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 small yellow squash, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1/2 red, 1/2 orange, and 1/2 yellow bell peppers (or any color), thinly sliced
  • 1 1/2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • Vegan Parmesan, optional for serving

Sauce

  • 2/3 cup raw sunflower seeds (see note 3)
  • 1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (see note 4)
  • Juice of 1-2 lemons, to taste
  • 3-4 cloves garlic, peeled (or 1-2 teaspoons garlic powder)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Instructions

  1. Boil water: Start the pasta water boiling in a large pot. Salt the water if you’d like.
  2. Cut veggies: No need to be super fancy, just cut them all into bite-sized pieces. They will shrink slightly when cooked. Cut the harder veggies (like onion and broccoli) first, as they’ll be the first to go in the pot.
  3. Cook pasta: Once the pasta water is to a boil, add the pasta, stir, and turn the heat down to medium. Stir occasionally to prevent it from sticking. Drain when cooked, but don’t rinse.
  4. Start cooking veggies: While the pasta is cooking, you can start your veggies. Using a large nonstick pot, add the onions and the broccoli. If you like to cook with oil, add a little neutral oil first, like grapeseed oil. If not, just splash about a tablespoon or two of water into the pot every so often, like if the veggies start to cook or are browning too quickly. 
  5. Add squash and perhaps bell peppers: Cook the onions and broccoli for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the squash. If you like your bell peppers softer, add them now too, but I’m a person who likes her bell peppers a bit crunchier so I add them near the end. Cook for about 2 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
  6. Make the sauce: While these cook, add all the sauce ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth. Adjust flavors to your preference (more lemon, more garlic, more pepper, etc.).
  7. Add peas: Now add the peas and cook for another minute.
  8. Add remaining veggies and season: Finally, add the tomatoes (and the bell peppers if you like them crunchier) and cook for about 1 more minute. Then turn off the heat and season the vegetables with a little salt and pepper.
  9. Toss to combine: Toss the pasta and veggies in a large enough bowl, then add the sauce and mix well. 
  10. Serve and enjoy: Finally, stir in some of the herbs and use the rest as garnish. Add a little vegan parmesan if you’d like and enjoy!
  11. Store: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for 4-5 days. Reheat with a tablespoon of water to keep the pasta from drying out, and mix well.

Notes

  • Note 1: To make this in about 30 minutes we’ll need to multitask. Now, I can’t account for everyone’s vegetable chopping speed and knife skills. You might think I have great knife skills since I have a food blog, but due to a disability in one of my hands I actually don’t cut veggies that fast. So while the 30 minutes is a rough estimate, I think that this in most cases can absolutely be done in 30-35 minutes.
  • Note 2: Use any veggies you like!
  • Note 3: Definitely try to use raw sunflower seeds instead of roasted, as these will be the most creamy and neutral in flavor. Raw cashews will work just as well. If you’d like to make this dish lower fat, use silken tofu (and less or no non-dairy milk) or white beans as the base.
  • Note 4: Nutritional yeast gives the sauce a lot of flavor. To keep the color light I used non-fortified nutritional yeast but either will work fine. If you hate the taste of the nutritional yeast, give the non-fortified version a try, it’s less intense. Omit if you really don’t want to eat it and the sauce will still be good.
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Category: Entree
  • Method: Stove top
  • Cuisine: American, Italian

Keywords: Vegan, Gluten-Free, Oil-Free, Nut-Free, Soy-Free, Sugar-Free, Vegan Pasta Primavera