Pasta Primavera

Pasta Primavera

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 lb penne pasta (we love Barilla)
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 18 oz)
• 2 small/medium red potatoes
• 1 small green zucchini
• 1 small yellow zucchini
• 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1/2 red bell pepper sliced
• 1 small bunch broccoli
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1/8 cup chopped Italian parsley
• Parmesan cheese to taste
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Variations: It’s all about what you have in your refrigerator, so use any vegetable you want and try to get some color variation in the pasta. If you don’t have red potatoes use yellow; if you don’t have a red bell pepper use green or yellow. Carrots are great in here too. I sometimes add mushrooms - this truly is a dish to use to get rid of those vegetables.

Instructions:

1. Put your water onto boil and salt it like the sea.
2. In the meantime, prepare your vegetables by cutting them up per above and setting aside in separate bowls or piles.
3. Saute garlic and onion with 1 Tbsp olive oil until translucent.
4. Add the chicken and saute' until golden brown and remove from pan and set aside.
5. Add a little more olive oil to your pan (about 1 Tbsp) and add the vegetables that take a bit longer to cook including bell peppers and broccoli (If including carrots, those would be included here too.) and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently.
6. Add the softer vegetables to the mixture. For this recipe add the zucchini and cook until tender.
7. Add the chicken back in and stir. Keep on low while pasta is cooking.
8. Once the water is boiling, dump the 1 lb. of pasta and stir in and set a timer for 2 minutes. Once 2 minutes pass, add the potatoes and cook per instructions.
9. Drain the pasta and add to a bowl, always including about 1 Tbsp of the water. Add the chicken and vegetable mixture over the top of the pasta and stir.
10. Add about 2 Tbsp fresh olive oil, parmesan cheese and fresh parsley and stir.
11. Serve hot.