Greenest pasta ever: Kale orecchiette alla primavera

Not much intro needed: let's all celebrate spring by making pasta alla primavera!



INGREDIENTS (2 people for a main dish, 4 people as a side):
- any pasta you like! (I used my homemade kale orecchiette, click here for a recipe)
- a bunch of green asparagus, rinsed and trimmed
- 1 small container of snow peas, rinsed
- 1 cup of frozen peas
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled and bruised
- a few sprigs of fresh tarragon, leaves picked
- Parmesan, shaved
- a splash of olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Note: this recipe can be adapted to a vegan diet by using egg-free pasta


RECIPE:
- bring a pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the asparagus, snow peas and green peas for 2-3 minutes, then transfer into iced water to stop the cooking process. Keep the boiled water hot for cooking the pasta later.

- in a large skillet, add the bruised garlic clove into a splash of cold olive oil and cook over very low heat for a few minutes until the garlic becomes fragrant

Note: you do not want to fry the garlic golden here, you just want to infuse the oil and low heat is perfect for that
- after a few minutes, remove the garlic clove (it has served its purpose), add the cooled and drained blanched veggies to the skillet and cook for 5-7 minutes over medium heat

- meanwhile, bring the water back to a boil (it's ok if it has a green tinge from the blanching step) and cook the pasta until almost done.

Note: I like to under-cook my pasta at this stage, because I like them VERY al dente
Note 2: always reserve a little bit of your pasta water, it usually comes in very handy when making the sauce because it contains all the starch from the pasta and thickens beautifully
- when the pasta is almost cooked through, drain well and transfer into the skillet containing the vegetables. Toss well and add the chopped tarragon, half of the Parmesan and about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of pasta cooking liquid. Cook for another 1 minute over medium-high heat, or until the Parmesan has melted into the sauce and coats the pasta

- serve hot, sprinkled with fresh tarragon and a few shavings of Parmesan cheese
- Buon Appetito!