Pasta primavera is an Italian-American dish that consists of pasta and fresh vegetables. A meat such as chicken, sausage or shrimp is sometimes added, but the focus of primavera is the vegetables themselves. The dish may contain almost any kind of vegetable, but cooks tend to stick to firm, crisp vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots, peas, onions and green bell peppers, with tomatoes. Pasta primavera is usually highlighted by light flavors, aromatic herbs and bright colors ('primavera' meaning the season of spring). Classic primavera sauce is based on a soffritto of garlic and olive oil, and finished with Parmesan cheese. However versions further enriched by, or based on, a heavier cream or Alfredo sauce are also common. Though recipes for cold pasta primavera may be found, they are best classified as antipasti, or appetizers.
Pastas served with this dish are typically smaller shapes, such as penne, farfalle, rigatoni and fusilli. If using longer types of pasta, such as spaghetti or fettuccine, the vegetables are normally sliced in thin strips to match the shape of the noodles.
Since primavera means spring, the vegetable choices should be the crisp new vegetables of spring.
Though this dish is related to and likely derived from genuinely Italian dishes, under this name it is certainly a North American dish, created in Nova Scotia and brought to New York City in the early 1970s. The canonical story of its creation ascribes it to Sirio Maccioni, then owner of Le Cirque, in 1974. Soon it gained popularity as an unlisted special at the restaurant, and from there spread rapidly across the country.[1]
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