When it comes to enjoying a variety of vegetables and pasta there are no hard and fast rules. In fact, if you are looking for an easy way to use up what you have in your vegetable drawer then pasta primavera may be the answer to your prayers.

Ideally, you will want to use tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, red onion, and kalamata olives. But, if you have asparagus, corn, green beans, or any other fresh vegetable you may want to toss those into the mix as well! Cut them into bite sized portions.

To get started, in a large skillet put enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan and put over medium-low heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add one or two thinly sliced cloves of fresh garlic.Give it a couple of minutes and then add the rest of your vegetables and sprinkle with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper.

In another pot, cook pasta in lightly salted water. Any variety will do but penne pasta works well. When the pasta is just tender, drain and reserve about a cup of the pasta water.
Put the pasta in the skillet and add the pasta water as needed – just enough to moisten the cooked vegetables. You can add up to two tablespoons of butter if you choose. Top with Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

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