This is one of those dinners I make when I want something comforting (pasta, of course) but also feel like I should probably eat a vegetable.

Lately everyone in my house has been passing around some version of a cold, so I knew it was time to sneak a few extra nutrients into dinner. Enter my old friend, pasta primavera!

This recipe is one of the easiest meals in my rotation. PACKED with vitamins from the bell peppers and asparagus, and the sauce comes together with some heavy cream and grated parm, technically a one pot meal and the whole thing is done in about 30 minutes.

Bell peppers and asparagus are my usual combo, but this is the kind of dish where you can throw in whatever vegetables you have hanging around in the fridge and it’ll still work.

Got 30 minutes? Here’s how to make it.

Ingredients

• Bow tie or penne pasta
• Red bell pepper, sliced
• Yellow bell pepper, sliced
• Yellow onion, sliced
• Asparagus, trimmed
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ cup grated parmesan
• Garlic salt and pepper to taste

---

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook your pasta according to the package instructions.
2. While the pasta cooks, heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add a drizzle of oil and toss in your sliced peppers and onion. Sprinkle with a little salt and let them cook down for about 5 minutes until they start to soften.
3. Next, rough chop the asparagus into thirds and add it to the pan with the peppers and onions. Let everything sauté for another 4–5 minutes.
4. Lower the heat and pour in the heavy cream and parmesan. Stir until the cheese melts and the sauce comes together. Season with garlic salt and pepper to taste.
5. Once the pasta is finished cooking, add it directly into the pan along with about ⅓ cup of the pasta water. Give everything a good toss so the sauce coats the pasta.

Finish with a little extra parmesan and that’s it — dinner’s ready!

---

Want to add protein?

This pasta is great on its own, but if you want to bulk it up a bit you can add:

• chargrilled shrimp
• cooked diced chicken thigh
• sliced sausage

I’ve tried all three and they all work really well.

This recipe is hard to mess up and easy to adapt depending on what you have in the fridge — give it a try and get creative!