Quick and Easy Springtime Pasta: Gnocchi with Springtime Vegetable Medley

 

The great thing about spring and the beginning of summer is that when you walk through the market all of the vegetables look great. That's not something you'll hear Bryan say often, but for the couple of months in the early half of the year, it's been known to have been said.

This dish was the result of just such a stroll and that accompanying urge to bit into some delicious fresh veggies. Too early in the season for big vine tomatoes, the cherry tomatoes fill in here perfectly, and provide a nice, sweet and tart flavor. They melt in the heat to create the sauce for this dish. And this time of year the asparagus is perfect and deserves to be featured here.

We served this veggie medley over some fresh gnocchi that we bought. If you're feeling adventurous, gnocchi is the perfect companion for this dish - big a pillowy that goes well with the super chunky sauce - so you could make it yourself. Or if you want to save yourself some time and cook this dish up in about 10 minutes, you can buy it as well. Or, simply use some other sort of pasta. The real treat here is the veggies.

Making the Dish
What You'll Need

1 bunch fresh asparagus, cut into 1 in pieces
1 pint fresh cherry tomatoes, halved
1 pint baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 lb gnocchi or other short pasta

To start, brin ga pot of salted water to boil. Then in a non-stick skillet, heat up the olive oil over medium heat. Once it is hot, drop in the asparagus and mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cook for about 7 - 10 minutes until both are fairly soft. The mushrooms will start to exude their liquid after a few minutes. When they do, add in the garlic and crushed red pepper.

Cook the garlic and red pepper in the asparagus and mushroom mixture until they are fragrant, then add in the cherry tomatoes. Toss everything together and then lower the heat to a simmer. Let the tomatoes cook and exude their juice for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once done, remove from heat.







Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Then when don, serve the pasta with the veggie medley spooned on top. Enjoy!

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