Pasta Primavera

So I had to work for a good chunk of the afternoon, even though it is Saturday. What lured me upstairs was the unmistakable smell of garlic. It was a blend of veggies in the sauté pan, closer to an Italian soffritto than to a French mirepoix - onion, carrot and green pepper, plenty of garlic but without celery.  They were in big chunks rather than dice, but they were cooked nicely through - not too crunchy, not too mushy.  Another nice benefit, some of the onions were caramelized, which gave a bit of a sweet counterpoint. Last but not least, basil, parsley, and a handful of roasted soy nuts.  Gives some nice crunch, and protein to boot. All in all, it looked like the making of a good solid pasta primavera. Fitting somehow, as warm weather lately has everyone thinking of Spring, the English translation of the dish.

Pasta Primavera (sorry for the blurry photo, I'll start
using my real camera instead of the cell phone)

To be clear, this was entirely SO's idea, no recipe, just a throw-together.  Wow, it turned out really nicely.  No tomatoes (we didn't have any, but I'm not big on tomatoes anyway - no really - I'll eat them but they don't entirely agree with me), and finished with a sprinkle of parmesan.  I'm not usually fond of putting crappy supermarket processed parmesan on anything (our "real" chunk of parmigiano-reggiano finally ran out), but it would have suffered without it I think. Time to go to the grocery store, we didn't have fresh herbs either. Maybe I'll get a basil plant - they aren't any more expensive than a bunch, and it lasts longer. I've tried freezing fresh herbs before, with disastrous results. I thought maybe it was because I didn't take enough care to suck all the air out of the ziplocks. Some people take this seriously.  In any case,  no recipe is needed really - sauté the garlic then other veggies and herbs, throw on the pasta, sprinkle parmesan. I don't think it could be any easier. Ditch the parmesan, and you have yourself a vegetarian dish - actually it would be vegan at that (if you use most boxed pastas, not fresh). Good to have one up your sleeve in case a vegetarian friend ever visits.

Next time: ensure all onions are fully caramelized; try fresh herbs, pasta, and parmesan

Me: 7/10 (fresh everything would be worth a point and a half I'm sure)
SO: n/a - ironically, didn't have any due to going out with friends later
SSO: n/a - had plain pasta and veggies