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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So delicious! I made 1.5 x recipe to feed 8 adults. Most had 2 servings and there was still leftovers! Roasted the veggies on 2 sheet pans to avoid crowding. Turned off the oven after roasting, mixed all ingredients together except for the cheese. Covered with foil and put in the oven to keep warm – about 10 minutes. Sprinkled with cheese just before serving. This gave me a few precious minutes to slice the steak and pour water, with no seemingly loss of quality. Definitely will make again.
This was delicious! Used all “fresh from the farm market” produce – such good flavor. Also added pea pods that I added with the zucchini which gave a nice crunch. Would be great for a potluck as it makes a huge quantity. There are multiple steps so make sure you really read the directions.
Can I use carrots to substitute the sweetness from the sugar?
Hi Stacey, you can just omit the sugar. There’s no need to replace it with carrots, but it’s fine for you to add some if you’d like.
This recipe looks great…planning on making it for dinner party next t week. I noticed that you added mozzarella pearls in a different pasta dish. How do you think they would be in this one? Thanks
Hi Toni, I think mozzarella pearls would be a nice addition here. Hope everyone enjoys it if you make it!
A perfect summer dish! The dressing is simple and perfect. This is not your grandmas pasta salad.
Wondering if I could cook the pasta and veggies ahead and then quickly combine and reheat?
Sure, Ann — it reheats nicely. It’s also good at room temperature.
This was excellent! Made it exactly as written. Great combination of flavors. Carole and I both had seconds (NOT a normal thing!). Took a little more time than I expected, but totally worth it!
I made a visit to my local farmstand and purchased fresh ingredients. This is perfect for a summer dinner party! Your directions are always spot on. No guess work. Love it. Thanks..
Yummy! I used frozen corn for ease, and a whole wheat pasta because the box was 12oz instead of 16. We found it a little sweet so next time I’d leave out the sugar and add lemon juice at the end. I also roasted chicken breast at the same time for some extra protein.
We really enjoyed this dish — great use of summer veggies, and very light. Two slight modifications: I did not use sugar, as I figured the tomatoes and corn would be sweet enough, and they were; and I used more herbes de Provence than stated in the recipe. Thank you, Jenn.
Made this tonight and served with your grilled chicken and roasted broccoli. 5/5 ⭐️ from the fam! So so good! Looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow!!
Hi Jen,
Do 4 shallots in the recipe mean 4 cloves or 4 bulbs of shallots? This has been a tricky one for me when recipes call for a certain number of shallots–not knowing for certain to use the entire bulb or just one clove. Thanks for clarifying. This recipe sounds delicious and will be making it soon. Thank you.
Diane
Hi Diane, it would be 4 full shallots. Hope you enjoy the pasta!