Pasta Primavera

From the Vitality Food Feature ‘SUMMER PASTA SALADS‘.

This dish, while not complicated, has several steps meant to offer each ingredient at its best. You toss them together into a delicious whole at the end, and serve with crusty bread.

Ingredients

• 1 small carrot, peeled & finely diced
• 1 cup broccoli cut into small florets
• 1 small zucchini, cut into thin inch-long sticks
• 12 spears of asparagus (about 1/2 pound), cut into 3-inch lengths
• 1/2 cup frozen tender early peas
• Tomato mix:
• 2 Tbsp soy margarine
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 ripe tomatoes, peeled & seeded & chopped
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• salt & pepper to taste
• Mushroom mix:
• 2 Tbsp soy margarine
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
• 8 ounces dried Kamut spaghetti
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• a large handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped

1) Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add carrot, broccoli, zucchini, and asparagus and return to the boil. After 3 minutes, add peas. Blanch for one minute. Remove the vegetables by straining them out of the water, and rinse them immediately in cool water to stop the cooking. Set the vegetables aside. Bring the water back to a boil.

2) In the meantime, sauté onion and tomatoes in margarine with salt and pepper. Stir over medium heat and cook until the mixture has thickened. Let it simmer while you blanch the vegetables. Process tomato mix in a food processor or blender with the soy milk into a smooth sauce. Set aside.

3) In the skillet, sauté mushrooms in margarine until just tender, then stir in parsley and blanched vegetables, and tomato sauce. Heat gently just until heated through. Do not overcook.

4) Cook the spaghetti until just tender (about 15 minutes) in the boiling water. Drain and toss immediately with warm vegetables and sauce; serve at once. Garnish each plate with pine nuts and basil leaves.