Pasta Primavera
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This pasta primavera is a go-to when summer veggies are at their peak—it’s easy to prep ahead and just as delicious served warm or at room temperature.
Photo by Johnny Miller (Clarkson Potter, 2021)
The word primavera means springtime in Italian, but pasta primavera has come to mean pasta tossed with a chorus of vegetables from any season. This version—with roasted cherry tomatoes, corn, and zucchini—is an ode to summer.
It’s a fresh spin on the classic dish made famous by Le Cirque in the 1970s, once described by a New York Times food columnist as “by far, the most talked-about dish in Manhattan.”
Pasta primavera is rich and flavorful enough to serve as a main course, but it also makes a fantastic side to grilled chicken or Italian sausage. Bonus: it’s good at room temperature and doubles as a delicious pasta salad.
“This was a wonderful dish! So flavorful and satisfying but not heavy. Perfect pasta dish for summer!”
What You’ll Need To Make Pasta Primavera
- Cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and fresh corn: These peak-summer veggies add sweetness, texture, and tons of flavor.
- Shallots and garlic: The aromatic base that gives the dish its savory backbone.
- Extra-virgin olive oil and butter: Olive oil is used for roasting and a final drizzle, while a little butter adds richness and gives the sauce a silky finish.
- Fusilli (or a similar pasta): Twisted shapes like fusilli, penne, farfalle, gemelli, or campanelle all do a great job of catching the sauce and clinging to the veggies.
- Herbes de Provence and crushed red pepper flakes: A fragrant blend of dried herbs with a touch of heat to round out the flavor.
- Pecorino Romano cheese: Sharp and salty—perfect for tying everything together. Parmigiano-Reggiano works too.
- Fresh basil and pine nuts: Just before serving, a sprinkle of basil and toasted pine nuts adds brightness, crunch, and a final layer of flavor.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Toss the longer-roasting veggies. On a foil-lined baking sheet, combine the cherry tomatoes, shallots, garlic, olive oil, salt, and a pinch of sugar. Toss everything together with your hands or a rubber spatula until the vegetables are well coated.
Step 2: Roast. Arrange the vegetables in a single layer and roast at 450°F for about 20 minutes, or until the tomatoes are burst and starting to brown.
Step 3: Add the quick-cooking veggies. Remove the pan from the oven and add the zucchini and corn. Toss with a rubber spatula and spread into an even layer. Roast for 5 minutes more, until the zucchini and corn are tender-crisp.
Step 4: Cook the pasta. Meanwhile, boil the pasta in salted water until al dente and drain.
Step 5: Put it all together. Add the pasta back to the pan, along with the roasted vegetables and all their juices. Add the butter, herbes de Provence, red pepper flakes, pecorino Romano, basil, and pine nuts.
Step 6: Toss and serve. Give everything a good toss, then taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. Spoon into bowls, drizzle with a little olive oil if you’d like, and top with more grated cheese. Enjoy!
Video Tutorial
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Pasta Primavera
This pasta primavera gets a summery spin with roasted tomatoes, sweet corn, and zucchini—it’s fresh, flavorful, and so easy to make.
Ingredients
- 1¼ lbs (2 pints) cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- 4 shallots, thinly sliced
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1½ teaspoons sugar
- 1 medium zucchini, cut into ¼-inch chunks
- 1½ cups fresh corn kernels, from 2 ears corn
- 12 oz fusilli (or similar shape) pasta
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence (see note)
- ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ cup grated pecorino romano cheese, plus more for serving
- ½ cup tightly packed basil leaves, roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup pine nuts, toasted (see note)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil.
- Combine the tomatoes, shallots, garlic, olive oil, salt, and sugar on the prepared baking sheet. Toss with your hands or a rubber spatula until the vegetables are evenly coated. Arrange the vegetables in a single layer and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tomatoes are just starting to brown. Remove the pan from the oven and add the zucchini and corn. Toss with a rubber spatula (the tomatoes will collapse; that's okay) and spread into an even layer. Roast for 5 minutes more, until the zucchini and corn are tender-crisp.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain, then add the pasta back to the pan. Add the roasted vegetables and all their juices to the pasta, along with the butter, herbes de Provence, red pepper flakes, pecorino Romano, basil, and pine nuts. Toss well, then taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Spoon into pasta bowls and drizzle with olive oil, if desired. Serve with more grated cheese.
- Note: Herbes de Provence can be found in the spice section of your supermarket. Most markets carry it but if you can't find it, dried thyme may be substituted.
- Note: To toast the pine nuts, put them in a dry skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until golden in spots, about 3 minutes.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 540
- Fat: 25 g
- Saturated fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 66 g
- Sugar: 11 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 16 g
- Sodium: 695 mg
- Cholesterol: 27 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Hi, wondering if anyone has used the Banza pasta (GF) for this with good results?
Looks so yummy!
I used Barilla Gluten free pasta – my favorite brand. I’ve made it with both Barilla gf spaghetti and GF penne. Delicious!
This recipe is yet another winner from Jenn! It celebrates summer and is made of all the things I tend to have on hand then, including fresh basil and cherry tomatoes. Every ingredient brings something to the flavor and texture party – the corn kernels are perfect as are the shallots and toasted pine nuts. Don’t forget to hold back some pasta cooking water at the end in case you need to add some back. Great depth of flavor, just so good! Thank you Jenn.
Just finished my second helping – absolutely delicious! Thank you Jenn!
I made this pasta recently for some friends and we all loved it! The flavours are so delicious, and the pine nuts are a perfect addition. I cooked the pasta until al dente and by the time I added all the other ingredients and mixed them together, I felt the pasta was a little over cooked. Next time I will drain the pasta a minute earlier. All in all it was soooo good.
Was looking on your website for a recipe to use some of my garden zucchini and cherry tomatoes. This sounded perfect! It was actually better than that…it was amazing!! Great combination of flavors and was so easy to make. I did have to substitute dried thyme for the Herbes de Provence, did not use the pine nuts, and had only frozen corn, but still it was absolutely delicious. I love that it can be served hot or cold. This will definitely be a regular summer time recipe! Thanks SO much!!
I love all your recipes. A lot of recipes don’t have enough flavor and I’m always changing them. Not yours, they are perfect! This was very flavorful but I didn’t like the corn. I guess because I’m Italian I thought corn was not right for this recipe. Next time I make it, I would omit the corn and maybe add mushrooms or eggplant.
This is delicious! Will definitely make again
I have a bumper crop of grape tomatoes and have been freezing them whole. Could these be used in this recipe? And if so, should I try to halve them before roasting?
Sure, I think they should work. And I’d thaw them before roasting (and cut then in half). Hope you enjoy!
This was a total hit. Thank you!!
Made this for first time. Didn’t change a thing, except for doubling the garlic. We love our garlic. Absolutely delicious! Very simple, and the roasting veggies smell great! Will become a staple at my home.