Pasta Provencal

This is pasta the way they’d eat it in the south of France: light, garden-fresh, and built on a brothy sauce rather than a heavy one. Sweet summer squash, mushrooms, and scallions get a quick saute, then simmer with plum tomatoes and chicken broth into a sauce that’s more glistening than thick.

The trick is restraint with the tomato paste. It’s there to round out the flavor, not to bulk things up, so you add it bit by bit and stop once the sauce tastes balanced and still pours.

A handful of fresh basil and parsley goes in at the very end, just long enough to release their perfume without cooking away.

Because the sauce is delicate, toss it with angel hair, the thinnest pasta, which catches the light broth in every strand. Finish with grated Parmesan.

Kitchen Tips

• Add the tomato paste gradually and taste as you go. This sauce should stay light and brothy, so you may not need the whole tin.
• Stir in the garlic only after the other vegetables have softened. A minute is plenty; any longer over high heat and it turns bitter.
• Add the fresh herbs in the last minute. Cooking basil and parsley too long dulls their color and flavor.
• Have the angel hair ready to toss the moment the sauce is done, since thin pasta overcooks in seconds.

Variations

• Add a handful of black olives and capers for a more pronounced Provencal punch.
• Stir in cooked shrimp or shredded chicken to make it a heartier main.