Pasta Primavera

By lromito

Ingredients

• 1- 1/4 lbs pasta - use rigatoni or penne or bowtie pasta
• a bunch of wild asparagus or about 6 - 8 stalks of garden asparagus
• fresh peas (about 1- 1/2 c when shelled)
• fresh fava beans, if available (about 1 c. or more when shelled)
• 1 large onion, white or yellow
• olive oil - about 1 cup
• grated Parmesan or pecorino (sheep's milk cheese - sharper than
• Parmesan and better, I think, for this dish)
• salt, pepper

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

Finely-chop onion and sauté until golden (do not burn!) in olive oil. Add peas and fava beans and gently simmer, adding about 1 to 2 c. of hot water so that beans and peas start to cook down, though they should remain al dente ("to the tooth", ie, chewy). Add asparagus tips if garden asparagus - and if wild asparagus, add all of the stalk (breaking into pieces of about 1/4 inch until not possible to break, ie, until you reach the "tough" part at base).
Simmer all vegetables until tender, though NOT mushy! Serve over pasta which you have cooked in salted water until al dente, remembering to save the water when draining. If sauce needs more moisture, add a bit of the pasta water and or a bit of olive oil. Generously sprinkle with grated cheese, mix and serve.
Optional addition: zucchini, chopped into small pieces - sauté in olive oil with beans, peas - but after the legumes have cooked a bit as zucchini will cook down much more qu