Pasta Primavera in Lemon Cream Sauce

This is a delicious that you can make anytime with fresh, in season vegetables. You can use as many fresh vegetables as you like, the amounts for the recipe are based on what I used for mine. Also, it is relatively fast for something that you can whip up to feed two people or a party.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
6 shallots (sliced into rings)
4 cloves of garlic (diced)
1/2 red bell pepper
4 artichoke hearts quartered (canned, but they go soooo well in the cream sauce)
1 fresh yellow tomato
1 fresh orange tomato (I used seasonal tomatoes for a variety of color in the sauce
2 cups dry pasta
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
juice of 2 lemons
kosher salt and ground pepper on hand
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (optional)


Start a large pot of water to boil. Cook the pasta to your liking after the water boils. It is easiest to time this if you cook the pasta at the same time as the sauce, which is less challenging than it seems because pasta is pretty low maintenance.

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil on medium heat. Once the olive oil is hot, add the shallots and the garlic stirring occasionally. After a few minutes add the red bell pepper and artichoke hearts. Dice the tomato and toss into the mixture. Leave the veggies on low heat and start the cream sauce by melting the butter in a small sauce pan. Add the flour to the melted butter on med/low heat and stir constantly. After a minute add the milk (hot but not boiling) to the pan. Stir occasionally and leave on medium heat until the sauce begins to bubble and thicken. You will know you have succeeded in cream sauce when if you dip a spoon in, the sauce will coat the spoon. Once delicious cream has occurred, remove from heat and add lemon juice, red pepper flake, and Parmesan cheese while stirring constantly. In mere moments you will notice that the Parmesan has melted and everything is melded together in a creamy blend of wonder. Add your wonderful sauce to your veggies and incorporate well. Now all you need to do is toss your primavera sauce with your pasta, and you have a perfect dinner!