An effortless starter that isn’t cheese! These baked pumpkin balls are sure to wow your guests. With a tart dipping sauce, they are topped with fried sage leaves.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Additional Time: | 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 45 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 bunch fresh basil
- 3 cups chicken broth, divided
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 pound fettuccine pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large leek, white and light green parts only, chopped
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped
- 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
- 2 pinches salt
- 2 zucchinis, diced
- 1 cup chopped sugar snap peas
- ½ cup shelled English peas
- 1 bunch asparagus, stalks diced, tips left whole
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, or as needed
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil. Hold basil bunch by the stems and dip basil leaves in boiling water until bright green, about 2 seconds. Immediately immerse basil in ice water for several minutes until cold to stop the cooking process. Once the basil is cold, drain well. Remove basil leaves from stems and discard stems.
- Blend basil leaves, 1 cup chicken broth, 1/2 cup olive oil, and garlic together in a blender until smooth.
- Stir fettuccine into the same pot of boiling water, bring back to a boil, and cook pasta over medium heat until cooked through but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain.
- Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir leek and green onion in hot oil until softened, about 5 minutes. Add jalapeno and salt; cook and stir until jalapeno is soft, about 5 minutes.
- Increase heat to medium-high. Stir 2 cups chicken broth, zucchini, sugar snap peas, and English peas into jalapeno mixture; bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Add asparagus and continue cooking until asparagus is soft, about 3 minutes more.
- Pour 1/4 cup basil-garlic mixture into zucchini mixture and cook and stir until heated through, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
- Place pasta in a large bowl; pour zucchini mixture over pasta and pour remaining basil-garlic mixture over the zucchini mixture. Spread Parmesan cheese over the top. Toss mixture briefly to combine and tightly wrap bowl with aluminum foil. Let stand until pasta and vegetables soak up most of the juices and oil, about 5 minutes. Toss again.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 590 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 73 g |
| Cholesterol | 8 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 8 g |
| Protein | 19 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 607 mg |
| Sugars | 8 g |
| Fat | 27 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
These are the only leftovers I will pull out of the fridge late at night and pick out the vegetables. It is so good.
What a wonderful healthy meal. Yes, it will take a few attempts to get this done in an Chefs time frame and hey, well worth the effort!
I used 2T dried basil instead of fresh, and omitted the jalapenos & sugar snap peas. My family loved it!
Added additional basil and skipped the zucchini. Delicious!
Love it
It’s alright. Doesn’t taste bad, but it also doesn’t taste like much. It’s quite bland to be honest. It needs something to bring more flavour to it. I think because the sauce is so thin and light that it doesn’t add thaaat much flavour to the plain fettuccine. The vegetables are good. The parmesan cheese is what really gives it the salty good taste. Without it, it would be even more bland. Probably would not make again. But 3/5 overall.
This recipe definitely requires a lot of prep time, but it makes enough for several days’ worth of leftovers for two people. I pretty much followed the recipe with a few small modifications: Used 18 oz fresh linguini rather than fettuccine. I used as much basil as comes in those plastic tubs and maybe would double the amount next time. And I included about a full cup of Parmesan. You don’t need to use less chicken broth; eventually the noodles will adsorb it. With salt and pepper and a little extra cheese sprinkled on top, this makes for a perfectly light, refreshing, flavorful dish. Though I do wonder if a little something extra – perhaps some lemon or cayenne pepper – would’ve made the flavors pop even more.
This recipe is absolutely perfect. I didn’t change a thing and my teens and 4 yo loved it! I used to make this years ago and blend it up when my little one was a baby…he couldn’t get enough. I found it in my recipe box and couldn’t wait to make it again! It’s awesome! Yes, definitely prep your veggies ahead and be ready to ‘go!’ It’s worth it….sooooooo worth it!!
Restaurant quality pasta. I added 1 lb chopped, cooked chicken at the end. My husband said it’s some of the best pasta he’s ever had. Definitely will make again. So good and love all the veggies!
I have made this many times and is one of my go to recipes. I love it and am about to make in again, even though it is winter. I think anyone would love this as much as I do!
I was really looking forward to this dish and all the great greens the recipe included. However, there was way too much liquid even after reducing by a cup. Also reduced the olive oil and added red and yellow bell peppers for some extra color. Love Chef John recipes but this is the first one to miss the mark for me.
Yes indeed, it was delicious! It’s so easy to modify depending on the local, in season veggies.
It certainly was a hit for a meatless Monday supper! Teenagers ate leftovers the next few days. I followed recipe exactly and turned out great!
This was Delicious, I omitted the jalapeño, not a fan, but I added extra garlic . My “ I’m cutting down on carbs” guest, went back for seconds. I will absolutely make this again. Thank you, Chef John!
I made it as written, At the end I added 2 lbs. of shrimp sautéed in garlic and butter. Which made it perfect.
Awesome
Vitamin K filled meal that revels in subtle flavor. I stuck pretty closely to the instructions of the recipe, only deviating by adding some spinach to further increase the green density. Overall, the result is tasty, but the flavors are very mild. I may try this again with more spices added in.
Delicious and interesting blend of flavors and textures. Be sure to toss everything thoroughly. We ate this over three nights, the first night was mostly fettucine.
This is delicious as written. I also like this as a fall dish to transition into comfort food yet still be light enough for our warm days. The last time I made this, I didn’t have any fresh basil but had some home made pesto in the freezer. It made a great substitution.
I used my immersion blender to mix the basil/garlic/oil/broth. I also used veggies on hand – cauliflower made it wonderful. Will definitely make again.
I made this recipe a couple of months ago. It was delicious, BUT……..After I ate the pasta, all of the vegetables were still in my bowl. Next time, I’ll be sure to use a short pasta so that I get a taste of veggies with each bite. I think that pasta dishes with smaller pieces of protein or veggies should be served with short pasta so that the diner gets a taste of both flavors.