Ina Garten’s Clever Approach to Vegetable Pasta
Every evening, I have a go-to strategy for our family dinner that involves a combination of starch, vegetables, and protein to ensure a balanced meal that keeps everyone full and content. Whenever possible, I try to merge at least two of these components into a single dish for simplicity’s sake.
My kids absolutely love pasta, which luckily, serves as a fantastic vehicle for sneaking in some veggies. I’ve mastered several tricks to ensure they consume a wholesome meal, whether it’s adding peas to mac and cheese, mixing finely shredded veggies into the marinara sauce, or incorporating a healthy dose of broccoli or kale into the pesto sauce.
Recently, I’ve adopted a new favorite method for combining veggies with pasta that barely requires more work than boiling the pasta itself. This inspiration came from watching a video by Ina Garten on Instagram, where she demonstrated making a lighter, spring version of pasta carbonara by incorporating asparagus and peas.
Adopting Ina Garten’s Efficient Veggie Pasta Method
From Ina’s video, I picked up an incredibly useful technique that I intend to use over and over again. She prepared a dish called Spring Green Spaghetti Carbonara, featured in her Modern Comfort Food cookbook.
The technique involves chopping the vegetables into small, bite-sized pieces and adding them to the boiling pasta water during the final few minutes of the pasta’s cooking time. This simple method ensures that the pasta is perfectly cooked and the vegetables are just the right texture—tender yet crisp. Plus, it’s all done using just one pot, which is absolutely genius.
How I’m Incorporating Ina’s Veggie Hack into My Home Cooking
Energized by this great tip from Ina, I recently tried adding chopped broccoli florets—my daughters’ preferred vegetable—to a pot of boiling radiatore pasta just two minutes before the pasta was due to be done.
After draining the pasta and broccoli in a colander, I tossed them back into the pot, mixing in a bit of butter, salt, and pepper. At the dinner table, I served this dish sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes for added flavor. Accompanied by lemon pepper salmon, it turned out to be one of the simplest yet satisfying meals I’ve prepared in recent times.
Inspired by this success, I am now exploring other potential vegetable and pasta pairings. Carrots cut into small cubes mixed with ditalini pasta could be a delightful combination, both being easy for kids to eat with a spoon due to their similar shapes. Bias-cut asparagus paired with penne, or gemelli pasta tossed with green beans are just a few more combinations I’m excited to try out. It’s going to be interesting to see which pairings become new family favorites.
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Riley Morgan simplifies health and wellness topics, providing readers with practical advice and insights. Dedicated to empowering others, Riley covers everything from mental health to medical breakthroughs.
