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2000s Recipes + Menus

Passover Pasta Primavera

Serves4 (first course)
  • Active time:45 min
  • Start to finish:55 min
April 2008
Pasta made with matzo cake meal is extremely light in texture and is no fuss to prepare when it’s rolled and cut by hand into thin strips. The vegetables, in shades of green, provide a range of spring color. Learn the story behind this dish in our column, The Recipe, and view more Passover menu ideas in our slideshow.

For fresh pasta

  • 1 cup matzo cake meal
  • 2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • Potato starch for dusting

For vegetables

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 lb asparagus, trimmed and thinly sliced, leaving tips whole
  • 1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced crosswise
  • 1 cup frozen peas (optional)
  • 6 scallions, thinly sliced, keeping white and pale green parts separate from greens
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano plus some for serving
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Make pasta:

  • Stir together matzo meal and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Make a well in center and add eggs and yolk, then lightly beat eggs with a fork. Add water and oil and stir until dough just comes together. Knead dough 5 or 6 times. Form into a 5-inch square and put on a work surface dusted with potato starch, then dust dough with potato starch. Let stand 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, dust a large baking pan with some potato starch.
  • Quarter dough. Roll out each piece on a surface dusted with potato starch until as thin as possible (1/16 inch thick) and about 10 by 8 inches, dusting rolling pin and surface of dough as needed. (If dough tears, patch it.) Using a pizza wheel or sharp knife, cut into long 1/2-inch-wide strips and transfer to pan in 1 layer along with any broken pieces of dough.
  • Cook in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) until just tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain pasta in a colander.

Sauté vegetables while pasta cooks:

  • Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then sauté asparagus, zucchini, peas (if using), white and pale green parts of scallions, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

Finish pasta:

  • Add 1/2 cup reserved cooking water to vegetables and cook, shaking skillet occasionally, until vegetables are just tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in pasta and scallion greens until just coated with sauce. Remove from heat and stir in cheese and zest. Stir in more reserved water if desired. Serve with additional parmesan.

Recipe by Melissa Roberts

Photograph by Romulo Yanes

Keywords
pasta,
italian,
passover,
melissa roberts,
vegetarian