Most of my recipes (especially this one) are more of a guide to a meal that I made and loved and thought you may love too. The beauty of it is that you can omit the ingredients you don’t like and fill it with flavors you DO like. There is no exact quantity. For two servings, this is how I made the above (and sprinkled with parmesan cheese!)…

Pasta + Veggies = 💗 It’s like a bowl of comfort and deliciousness. I like Parmesan sprinkled on top, feta is also good – use what you like. Add the veggies you like (or have on hand), whatever sounds good. You don’t need a lot of any one ingredient, and feel free to make substitutions, it’s yours to do with as you like. Normally I use sweet or yellow onions – however, when I went to grab one, I saw that we were OOS (out of stock), red onion to the rescue. It started it a gorgeous hue of purple, but gets lighter as it cooks.

I have all the veggies cut up and ready to go, I get the pan of water hot for the pasta and usually add my veggies to the hot pan and then add my pasta to the boiling water (in a different pan). By the time the pasta is done, so are the veggies – IF you cut them small enough. Otherwise start them PRIOR to adding your pasta to the boiling water.

PASTA + VEGGIES for 2 | Winter Version

• 1/2 box spaghetti or thin spaghetti (I use De Cecco) 

Ingredients

• A handful of grape tomatoes, washed and cut in half
• Red onion, I used about 1/2 of a medium red onion, sliced fairly thin
• 1/2 large bunch of asparagus, washed, dried and cut uniformly 1/2-1″ pieces
• parmesan cheese for sprinkling on top when plated
• pepper

Directions

In skillet or non-stick skillet (either will work), drizzle extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), once it starts to dance a bit add your veggies. If I have some veggies that are larger or you know take longer to cook, I will add those first. Keep checking on the veggies and give them a quick stir. Add more olive oil if needed (it adds flavor too). Sometimes I add a sprinkle of dried dill or basil, pepper, sometimes red pepper flakes. I don’t use salt because I use parmesan and that has plenty of sodium.

Next time I make this I’m going to add artichokes chopped up with kitchen scissors. Once you start to see a little color, brown edges at least – you can add a spoonful or two of the pasta water. Give it a quick stir.

I like to add the pasta to the pan and swirl it around, but it can be difficult to judge how much pasta to add (we save some for our dog for a treat once a day – he gets a few pieces and loves it!) – so we usually put the pasta in a bowl and then add the veggies and top with parmesan.

You can totally make this your own. Other veggies I use often: red pepper slices, garlic, spinach, artichokes – really the sky is the limit! Sometimes I also crunch up walnuts on top and my husband will add olives. Oh boy!!

🍽️ Until next time… If you make this recipe, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!