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Vegetarian Pasta Primavera Recipe with Swiss Chard and Mushrooms

I set out to make some sort of simple pasta with a hint of some Spanish Manchego cheese.  Most of the time a little cheese typically goes on top of a finished pasta that we concoct from time to time – but I want to make this a little bit different.  So I decided to start with a roux and add the cheese after the roux had turned into a bechamel.  Of course, I didn’t want to make Mac and Cheese (this would have been easy with this method), so I decided to also add some spicy red chili flake and chopped canned tomatoes to the sauce before adding some of it to my sauteed vegetables.

This was totally experimental, the sort of food that I love to cook – no recipe, no ideas from other blogs, just some organic vegetables and some pasta with a sauce (that I was actually not expecting to turn out well at all).  But the result was surprisingly delicious.  Part of the credit has to go to the organic ingredients from Boston organics.

Overall, a pretty simple interpretation, good for weeknight dinner, but good enough to serve to guests as well.  I’d advise against trying to enhance it with meat or anything though – keep it simple and vegetarian, you’ll like it I promise.  Here’s what to do:

For the vegetables:

• 8-10 button or crimini mushrooms – cut in thick slices
• Steps and leaves from a bunch of Swiss Chard – chopped
• 1 medium onion – large dice
• 1 large head of broccoli – florets chopped
• 1 tsp. red chili flakes (more if you want it really spicy)
• 4-5 cloves fresh garlic – diced
• 1 lb. dried spaghetti or linguine – whatever you prefer
• Olive oil
• Salt and fresh ground black pepper

For the sauce:

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of milk (or more depending on how think you want your sauce)
• ~4 oz. Manchego cheese – grated finely
• 1 tsp. red chili flakes
• 1 Tbsp. dried basil leaves
• 1 can diced canned tomatoes
• Salt and pepper

Place a large pot of water to boil over high heat for the pasta.  Start by cooking the vegetables – add a pan over medium heat to the stove and add some olive oil to the pan.  Add in the onions a broccoli first, season with a little salt and toss to combine.  Cook down and add the mushrooms with a pinch more salt.  Add the garlic and chard next and cook down over lower heat to caramelize the veg for 10-15 minutes.

While the vegetables are cooking, start with the sauce, but make sure you’re in good shape with the veg, as the sauce will require constant attention to get right.  Start with a whisk and a small-ish saucepan over low heat and melt the butter.  Add the flour to the butter and whisk to combine.  From here you want to cook the roux over low heat until it becomes a little darker color – stirring constantly to make sure it doesn’t burn.

Add the milk next and stir quickly – now you’ve got yourself a basic bechamel sauce.  Season with the salt and pepper to taste and add in the grated cheese and stir vigorously to incorporate.  Add the chili flakes and basil and eventually the tomatoes and mix to combine.  Bring to a decent heat and then add most of the sauce to the vegetables and stir to combine.  Cook the pasta (salting the water first of course) then add some of the pasta water to the sauce (around 1/3 cup of it – you want to thin it out some here.  Drain and add the pasta to the sauce and mix to combine.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

Tags: Pasta/Noodles, Vegetarian