Vegetable Pasta Perfect For Quick Weeknight Dinner

Final dish with fresh veggies, tomatoes and chopped hazelnuts.

Pasta dishes are my go to’s for busy weeknight dinners. They’re quick to make and easy on the wallet. Plus, my entire family loves them. My vegetable linguine pasta is perfect for getting those all important veggies in the kiddos without the fuss! It’s quick, cheap, tasty, kid approved and healthy-ish. All important factors when I’m planning meals out for the week. Watch my video step by step guide here.

Ingredients:

8 oz dried linguine

12 cherry tomatoes

2 spears asparagus

2 cloves garlic

1 head broccoli

1 zucchini

6 oz mushrooms (button or cremini)

1 shallot

2 tbsp oil

2 tbsp butter

2 oz goat’s cheese

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1/2 c chopped hazelnuts or pinenuts

Pasta water as needed (around 1 c)

Salt and pepper to taste

Tools needed:

Cutting board

Sharp knife

Big saute pan

Big pot for cooking pasta

Colander (strainer)

Stove top

Let’s make it:

Adding oil to preheated saute pan.

Raw ingredients for the pasta. Garlic and shallot not shown.

Prep veggies ie wash, dry and cut. I sliced the mushrooms about 1/8 inch thick. Cut the asparagus into 1/4 inch thick slices and the broccoli into florets. The tomatoes are halved and the shallot/garlic gets roughly chopped. After your veggies are prepped, get water on the heat (enough water to cook all your pasta). I use my biggest pot I have, 8 qt. You want to have enough water in the pot that the noodles have plenty of room to move around while they are cooking. The water needs to be at a rolling boil before adding noodles to ensure noodles will not stick together. Season water with nice pinch of salt just before adding noodles. Heat saute pan over medium heat (number 5 on the dial). Once warmed up, add oil and all the veggies except for the tomatoes and garlic. Season the veggies once they hit the pan, saute for 5 minutes and all the veggies are cooked through and the mushrooms are nice and browned. Add garlic, rosemary, 1 tbsp butter and tomatoes at this time, cook for 30 seconds to take the rawness off the garlic. Season the garlic and tomatoes with kosher salt as soon as they hit the pan. The salt helps bring out the sweetness in the garlic and pulls the water from the tomatoes (this is seasoning in layers as I call it). This will add body to our sauce that we will make towards the end of the cooking process. Reduce pan heat to low (2 on the dial).

Beautifully cooked and slightly caramelized veggies with tomatoes added at the end.

Add pasta water to pan. This is the starting point of building our sauce.

During the time your veggies are cooking, the pasta water will have come to a boil and should be cooking the pasta at this time. Ladle one (1 c) scoop of that starchy pasta water into the pan with the veggies. Stir the veggies in with the pasta water to get the browned bits off the bottom of the pan that may have accumulated. Add one more ladle of the water and 2 tbsp butter. Kill the heat on the pan, gently mix in remaining butter until melted. Add goat’s cheese and gently fold in. The butter and melted goat’s cheese with the pasta water will emulsify into a beautiful sauce. The cheese will melt in and coat all the veggies giving us the creamiest sauce ever that has a TON of flavor. Taste and season more with salt and pepper if needed. Remember the pasta water is slightly salty, so you may not need to add more salt at the end.

NOW……if you timed this all correctly, the pasta should be cooked and now ready to strain. Reserve some pasta water if needed. Add your strained pasta to the pan with the veggies and gently toss in.

Finished pasta bowl topped with chopped rosemary and hazelnuts.

In your favorite bowl, dish up the pasta with those nicely sautéed veggies and top with chopped hazelnuts or pine nuts.

Enjoy!

-Logan