Pasta with Sauted Vegetables

A flexible template more than a fixed recipe, this sauteed pasta with vegetables bends to whatever your crisper drawer holds: zucchini, eggplant, spinach, sweet peppers, summer squash, mushrooms. The backbone is olive oil, garlic, fresh basil, a chopped tomato, and a hit of pepper flakes.

Timing is the real technique. Start the garlic in cold oil over medium heat and pull it just as it colors, past that and it goes bitter fast. Add vegetables in order of cooking time, slowest first, so everything finishes together.

For dried pasta, cook it while the vegetables saute. For fresh pasta, hold water on warm and drop the noodles in during the last two minutes of the vegetables, fresh pasta cooks in about 90 seconds and turns to mush if it sits.

The tomato and red pepper flakes go in at the end. A short three to four minute simmer is all you want, enough to release the tomato’s juices and bloom the flakes without turning vegetables mushy. Toss with pasta and finish with Parmesan.

Pro Tips

• Keep vegetables moving in the pan, stationary pieces overcook in hotspots.
• Reserve a half cup of pasta water before draining, it loosens the final toss.
• Salt the pasta water generously, plain noodles need the seasoning.
• Taste before salting at the end, Parmesan and canned tomato both bring salt.

Variations

• Use a mix of zucchini, eggplant, and spinach for a summer garden version.
• Stir in cooked Italian sausage for a meatier plate.
• Finish with a squeeze of lemon and torn basil for brighter flavor.