The P3: Pasta, Pesto, and Produce

This is one of our regular features around here and more of an idea than a recipe, really. We like summer squash in this along with some onion and some carrots, but you can use just about anything that sounds good to you. The picture is not awesome because I snapped it in a hurry one night--we make this on the fly, and I'm rarely staging any pictures of the process :-). The combo in the pictures is chicken sausage, kale, carrots, and yellow squash (and pesto, of course). All veggies came from our weekly CSA basket.

The P3

• Pasta of choice
• Veggies of choice (amount is entirely up to you!)
• Pesto
• Extra Parmesan cheese
• protein (sausage, chicken, tofu, etc.) is optional

1. Prepare veggies: thin strips (julienned, deseeded, etc.) work best. Group them in clumps of similar cooking times (carrots and onions with peppers, squashes held until the end, etc.).
2. Cook noodles.
3. Saute veggies in scant amount of oil, beginning with the ones that take longest to cook. I only cook them until just barely tender, especially the squash.
4. When noodles are done, drained, and back in their big pot, add the veggies and toss. Then add a few spoonfuls of pesto and toss.

Serve topped with extra Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes sprinkled on top.