1970s Pasta Power!

At least once or twice a month, I like to develop a new recipe for my vintage vegan cookbook project (you know, the one I've been working on since, like, 2012? ha!). At this rate, I'll probably never finish. But developing new recipes is fun, and I love not having deadlines or time constraints. Maybe my book of veganized trendy foods from the last century will be done someday, but you know, when it happens, it happens.

I've already developed about 100 recipes, so I'm closer to the finish (aiming for about 150) than the start. And it's hard for me to believe that, 100 recipes in, I hadn't yet developed a recipe for one of the most popular dishes of the 1970s! Pasta Primavera! I finally got around to doing that tonight, and I am so pleased with how this came out.

Pasta primavera was invented in Nova Scotia in 1975 by New York chef Sirio Maccioni. He'd flown to the summer home of a rich Italian baron there, and he'd been cooking the baron various dishes with game and fish. But Maccioni and his two top chefs started experimenting and came up with this naturally vegetarian pasta dish with cooked veggies and a butter and cheese sauce. 

I'm saving the recipe for my veganized version for my cookbook. But I'll tell ya that I used a cashew cream base with melted vegan butter, white wine, and lots of garlic for the sauce. It made for such a creamy, cheesy, buttery sauce. The veggies were fresh farmer's market squash and zucchini, plus red bell pepper, broccoli, carrots, and capers from the grocery store. On top is a sprinkle of Follow Your Heart vegan parm. I love how the veggies add such volume to the dish, so you can really make a giant plate of pasta!