Pasta Primavera

After a busy weekend I was finally able to try out the new products in a recipe (and I use that term loosely) for Pasta Primavera.  It turned out to be pretty delicious, so I thought I would share.  Generally I cook without a recipe so the measurements are less than precise.

A generous splash of olive oil

A small spoonful of chopped garlic (about 1 clove)

A few shakes of dried chili flakes

A dash of cayenne pepper

A generous sprinkle of Thrive Chopped Onions - Freeze Dried

A big handful of  Thrive Tomato Dices - Freeze Dried

A big handful of Thrive Green Bell Peppers - Freeze Dried

A big handful of Thrive Zucchini - Freeze Dried

A big handful of Thrive Broccoli - Freeze Dried 

Half a handful of Thrive Spinach - Freeze Dried

A sprinkle of Thrive Tomato Powder

Some cooked pasta (about 2-3 servings I think)

Water as needed to maintain consistency (including the pasta water)

Olive oil with herbs

A few dashes of salt and pepper

Start boiling the water with salt for the pasta before starting the sauce.  In a different pan, heat some olive oil then add garlic, cayenne and dried chili flakes.  As it starts to smell really good stir in the chopped onions, this will soak up all the oil, so then add some water and bring to a simmer.  

Add tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, broccoli and spinach and bring to a simmer, add more water as needed.  In the pasta pot, once it boils cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than the time recommended on the package.

Once the pasta is cooked, add it to the sauce, but save the pasta water - I just scooped the pasta over in spoonfuls along with some of the pasta water, and kept the water in reserve on the stove.

Add the tomato powder and stir the whole mixture.  Cook for the additional 2 minutes to finish the pasta.  Add some olive oil with herbs, stir and serve.

(As a note, anytime the sauce starts to look dry, just add water, once the pasta is cooking, it is actually a good idea to add a ladle of the pasta water because it will add starch and flavor and help maintain the simmer of the sauce.)

Some notes about my first thoughts on the new vegetables - 

• The green peppers are in strips, which immediately mad me think of using them in fajitas some other time, but because of the freeze dry process they could easily be snapped into smaller pieces. 
• The zucchini was cut into sliced wedges, which is how I cut them myself.
• The tomatoes are one of the few Thrive products that has more ingredients than the food item itself.  In addition to the tomatoes it also contains Citric Acid Calcium Chloride, which I'm sure is just to maintain the color during the freeze drying process.