Italian Delights: Pasta Primavera

Few months ago, Kartik and I were watching Giada De Laurentiis' show "Everyday Italian". One of the featured recipes was Pasta Primavera.....Both Kartik and I were so tantalized by the simple recipe, the next day Kartik went and bought ALL the ingredients to make me a nice weekend supper. This was such a hit, even the pickiest of eaters- my brother and my kids loved it. Here is the recipe verbatim from Giada's Show on the Food Network. Kartik followed the recipe exactly, you may add or omit ingredients to your taste.

You will need:

3 carrots, peeled and cut into thin strips
2 medium zucchini or 1 large zucchini, cut into thin strips
2 yellow squash, cut into thin strips
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs or herbes de Provence
1 pound farfalle (bowtie pasta)
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

On a large heavy baking sheet, toss all of the vegetables with the oil, salt, pepper, and dried herbs to coat. Transfer half of the vegetable mixture to another heavy large baking sheet and arrange evenly over the baking sheets. Bake until the carrots are tender and the vegetables begin to brown, stirring after the first 10 minutes, about 20 minutes total.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Toss the pasta with the vegetable mixtures in a large bowl to combine. Toss with the cherry tomatoes and enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Season the pasta with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve immediately.

Kartik served this with some garlic bread and a sparkling Apple beverage. Enjoy!