You don’t have to wait for primavera—springtime—to make this quick skillet sauce. You probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry and refrigerator all year: canned tomatoes, onions, garlic, a few perennially fresh vegetables like broccoli, mushrooms, and zucchini, and sweet peas from the freezer. (The recipe lists the vegetables I prefer, but don’t be afraid to use others, if that’s what you have on hand.) A key step here is parboiling the firm green vegetables and shocking them in ice water. Then they will only need to heat briefly in the tomato sauce and will keep their own colors, flavors, and textures. This recipe yields about 5 cups or more of sauce, depending on the vegetables. If that looks like more than you need for the amount of pasta you are cooking, take the extra sauce out of the skillet before you toss in the pasta. (See box, page 97.) Refrigerate the reserved sauce and use within 2 or 3 days, or freeze it for a few weeks (it will still taste good, although the color of the vegetables changes a bit in reheating it).
Recipe information
Yield
about 5 cups, enough to dress 1 1/2 pounds of pasta
Ingredients
Vegetables for Blanching
Vegetables for the Skillet
For Dressing Pasta
Recommended Equipment
Preparation
Blanching the Vegetables
Step 1
Fill the pasta pot with salted water (1 tablespoon kosher salt to 6 quarts of water) and bring to a boil. Fill the large bowl with ice water.
Step 2
When the pasta water is boiling vigorously, dump in the cut vegetables and peas, bring the water back to the boil, and cook, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Scoop out the pieces with a spider or strainer, drain briefly, and drop into the ice water to shock them. When they’re thoroughly chilled, let them drain and dry in a colander. Keep the water in the pot boiling so you can cook the pasta as you make the sauce.
Making the Skillet Sauce
Step 3
Pour the olive oil into the skillet, scatter the onion slices in the oil, and set over medium-high heat. Cook for 1 minute, tossing to coat the onions with oil.
Step 4
Strew the garlic slices and peperoncino in clear hot spots of oil, and cook them until they’re sizzling, another minute or so, then stir in with the onions. Don’t let them darken; lower the heat if they start to color.
Step 5
Scatter the mushroom slices in a clear part of the skillet, and sprinkle on the 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook and stir them separately for 1 minute or so, until sizzling, then stir them in with the onions.
Step 6
Pour all the crushed tomatoes and juices into the skillet, and stir in with the sautéed vegetables. Slosh 1 cup of hot pasta water around the tomato container, then stir that into the skillet. Heat the sauce so that it’s actively bubbling all over, and cook at a gentle boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add pasta water if the sauce is thickening or sticking.
Step 7
Drop all the cut, blanched vegetable pieces into the skillet, and stir them into the sauce. Bring to a simmer, and cook for about 2 or 3 minutes or more, until the blanched vegetables are cooked thoroughly but still al dente. If the pasta is not ready, turn off the heat so the vegetables don’t get soft. Just before adding the pasta, stir in some hot pasta water to loosen the sauce if it has thickened, and return it to a simmer.
Step 8
To dress any pasta with tomato primavera, toss and cook them together, following the procedure on page 105. Remove the skillet from the heat, and toss in the 2 tablespoons olive oil and the cheese just before serving.
Good With . . .
Step 9
Fresh whole-wheat pasta is particularly good with this all-vegetable sauce. Or any of the whole-wheat dry pastas (or regular dry pastas) in short tubular shapes, such as ziti or campanelle.
