Bittersweet Memories, That is All I'm Taking with Me

Creamless Pasta Primavera

Carla Lalli Music (my new fav chef)  asked on her post yesterday a question that I too have wondered about many times. If you haven't seen the thing, and you come up with it, but it already existed, did you invent it? I kept seeing a vibrant pasta primavera in my head but not using heavy cream.  That girl gives me a bad gut and I don't need her in my life at this point anyway.  I've never had a cream sauce that didn't end poorly. But could it taste as satisfying without all her life giving fat?  

Yes, it can.  Substituting a flour roux for the cream, you can control the thickness of the sauce.  I also added some yogurt for extra creaminess and didn't skimp on the Parmesan.  A cheesy tortellini helped bring the party and adding fresh cherry tomatoes at the end just to heat through kept the whole dish fresh and vibrant.  

This was decadent without being too heavy, unless you ate this much of it, which I did.

I sauteed the onions and garlic first in olive oil and then added the flour to toast before adding chicken stock, and a dollop of yogurt.  The blanched vegetables went in followed by the pasta, tomatoes and parmesan.  

The Brooklyn promenade 

*editors note: upon inspection, of course it existed, many times over and basically using a similar method