Lighter Pasta Primavera with Shrimp

This Lighter Pasta Primavera with Shrimp is made with sundried tomatoes, broccoli and peas in a delicious lemon-parmesan sauce.

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How to make this recipe

1. Heat a large pot of boiling water on high heat. Once water starts boiling, cook pasta.
2. Meanwhile, defrost and peel shrimp and prepare veggies. Heat a pan on the stove and add butter, garlic and onions and sauté. Once the onions and garlic are fragrant, add the shrimp, broccoli, lemon zest, salt, pepper and red chili flakes, cooking until shrimp starts to turn pink.
3. When the shrimp has turned pink, add the flour, lemon juice, milk and cheese, whisking away any lumps.
4. Add sun-dried tomatoes and peas, cooking until sauce thickens.
5. When the sauce is finished, add the pasta and a little bit of reserved pasta water to the sauce, tossing until well mixed.
6. Serve and enjoy!

Ingredients and substitutions

• Spaghetti – substitute spaghetti pasta with any pasta of your choice. I’ve seen primavera made with bowtie pasta and penne pasta.
• Reserved pasta water – the reserved pasta water helps to thicken the pasta sauce. If you forget to reserve excess pasta water, mix cornstarch or potato starch with water.
• Butter – in place of butter you can use margarine or a vegan butter substitute.
• Garlic – fresh garlic or jarred minced garlic will both work in this recipe.
• Red onion – white onion, sweet onion or yellow onion can be used in place of red onion.
• Shrimp – chicken breast or thighs would also taste great in this recipe if you aren’t a fan of seafood. You can leave the shrimp out entirely without replacement if you’d prefer to have a vegetarian dish.
• Broccoli – fresh or frozen broccoli will work for this recipe. If you aren’t a fan of broccoli, you can replace it with another vegetable of your choice like roasted Brussel sprouts, roasted cauliflower, roasted asparagus, etc.
• Lemon zest – if you’re in a pinch you can leave this out.
• Salt & pepper (to taste)
• Red chili flakes (optional)
• Flour – cornstarch or potato starch can be used instead of flour to thicken the pasta sauce.
• Lemon juice – fresh lemon juice or bottled lemon juice will work for this recipe.
• 2% milk – 2% milk makes the recipe lighter than if heavy cream was used. If you are in a pinch, feel free to use heavy cream or use your favourite nondairy milk of choice.
• Parmesan cheese – grated Parmesan cheese or
• Sun-dried tomatoes – sun-dried tomatoes should be packaged in oil. You can substitute sun-dried tomatoes with roasted red pepper or semi dried tomatoes.
• Peas – fresh or frozen peas will work for this recipe.

Storing and reheating

To store your leftovers, transfer the remaining pasta into individual servings in airtight containers and place into the fridge. The leftover primavera without the shrimp will last in the fridge for up to five days. If you have leftover shrimp with your pasta, you will want to eat the primavera within two days of storing.

When you're ready to enjoy your pasta, microwave in your glass container or transfer into a microwave safe bowl and heat it up in the microwave for 1-2 minutes until warm.

Freezing this recipe

To freeze your pasta, wait for the recipe to cool completely then transfer it to an airtight container or a freezer bag. When you store your pasta, make sure to write the date that you're storing the paste to make sure you can keep track of its freshness. Once stored, your pasta will last in the freezer for up to three months.

When you're ready to enjoy the shrimp primavera, move it to the fridge hours before you're ready to enjoy or the night before to make sure it thaws. Once it has thawed, warm up the pasta in the microwave for 1-2 minutes or on the stovetop until fully cooked. After you've defrosted your shrimp primavera, you will not want to refreeze it so I recommend dividing your pasta into individual servings before freezing if you live alone.

More shrimp recipes

• Kung pao shrimp
• Best ever shrimp marinade
• Applebee's shrimp wonton stir fry

Meal prep tools for this recipe

• Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on storing any leftovers
• You can also freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months

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Lighter Pasta Primavera with Shrimp

This Lighter Pasta Primavera is filled with shrimp, broccoli, sundried tomatoes and peas for a delicious, easy pasta dinner ready in 30 minutes!

4.5 from 16 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course, Pasta

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: pasta primavera

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 528kcal

Author: Taylor Stinson

Ingredients

• 1 lb spaghetti
• 1/4 cup reserved pasta water
• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 lb frozen shrimp deshelled and defrosted (about 35 shrimp)
• 1 head broccoli
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup 2% milk
• 2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes sliced (packedoil)
• 1/2 cup frozen peas defrosted

Instructions

• Heat a large pot of boiling water on high heat. When boiling, cook spaghetti for about 8 minutes until al dente, then drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta water.
• Meanwhile, defrost and peel shrimp and prepare veggies. In a large pan, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onions and sauté for 30 seconds. Add shrimp, broccoli, lemon zest, salt, pepper and red chili flakes, cooking for 2-3 minutes until shrimp starts to grow pink.
• Add flour, lemon juice, milk and cheese, whisking to get rid of lumps.
• Add sundried tomatoes and peas, cooking for another 3-4 minutes until sauce starts to thicken.
• Add pasta and a little bit of reserved pasta water, then cook on high for 2-3 minutes, tossing until well mixed. Serve and enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 528kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 212mg | Sodium: 1253mg | Potassium: 956mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 1088IU | Vitamin C: 104mg | Calcium: 339mg | Iron: 5mg