Pasta with Caramelized Onions Wax Beans Corn Tomatoes Jalapeno highlights summer produce at its peak. This recipe was inspired by fresh produce from my CSA Box one summer. Fresh summer vegetables are bountiful in Connecticut, so I try to enjoy as many as I can, whether they are from a Community Supported Agriculture (“CSA”) or a local farmer’s market.
Each week, my CSA Box has been getting heavier and heavier, which is a good thing. I remember the very first box which was unexpectedly light. After a slow start, my CSA Box has been getting fuller by the week.
This week’s CSA Box #9 featured wax beans, zucchini, basil, cauliflower, an assortment of cucumbers, corn on the cob, salad turnips, carrots, scallions, mixed salad greens, tomatoes, a jalapeno pepper, and a garlic bulb.
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| Carrots, Salad Turnips, Scallions, Basil, Garlic and a Jalapeno Pepper came in CSA Box #9. |
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| Zucchini, Cucumbers, Cauliflower, Corn, and Tomatoes also came in CSA Box #9. |
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| Fresh Salad Greens have been in my CSA Box almost every week. |
I’ve been getting lots of zucchini and cucumbers lately, and have been trying different ways to enjoy these two vegetables, while keeping things interesting. I made some Zucchini Pancakes to start which were especially good with some Cucumber and Tomato Tzatziki. I also got lots of corn, so we enjoyed it steamed, as a salad mixed with scallions, tomatoes, olive oil and rice vinegar, and in this Pasta with Caramelized Onions, Wax Beans, Fresh Corn and Jalapeno.
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| Wax Beans were featured in this week’s CSA Box. |
With such a nice variety of vegetables in my CSA Box this week, I’ve found that combining as many of these beautiful fresh vegetables in one dish is the best way to enjoy them, whether it’s in a salad or a pasta dish like this one.
In fact, this past week, my husband’s softball team came over twice after their games, and someone actually asked for some vegetables! Of course, I obliged and threw together a fresh green salad with cucumbers and tomatoes from my CSA Box one night, and a fresh corn salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and scallions the next night. I teased one of the guys who notoriously loves meat, “I made some vegetables just for you!” He actually had some salad…small steps, baby steps.
Pasta with Caramelized Onions, Wax Beans, Fresh Corn and Jalapeno
Adapted from Fine Cooking. The original recipe calls for green beans, but since I had wax beans from my CSA Box, that’s what I used. I used gluten-free pasta which often comes in 12-ounce boxes. I also added a tomato from my CSA Box for some brightness and color.
Pasta with Caramelized Onions Wax Beans Fresh Corn Jalapeño
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large sweet onion thinly sliced
- 12 ounces whole grain or gluten-free pasta
- 1 1/2 cups fresh green beans or wax beans trimmed, cut into 1" lengths
- 1 cup fresh corn kernels
- 1/2 jalapeño pepper seeded, minced
- 1 tomato chopped
- sea salt to taste
- fresh ground pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
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Heat olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add onion and a pinch of salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until onion begins to soften and brown, about 5 minutes.
Lower heat to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until onion is very soft and a light golden brown, about 15 minutes more. If onion begins to look like it's burning, add 2 tablespoons warm water and lower the heat.
Cook pasta until pasta is just shy of al dente, adding beans to the pasta water in the last minute of cooking.
While pasta cooks, add corn and jalapeno to the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until the corn kernels begin to soften, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water and drain the pasta and beans in a colander.
Return the pasta, beans and 2 tablespoons of the reserved water to the pot.
Add the onion mixture and toss over medium heat until the beans are crisp-tender and the pasta is perfectly al dente, 1-2 minutes.
Add tomatoes and toss until tomatoes are just warmed through.
Add more pasta water as necessary to keep the dish moist.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle with parsley.
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| This pasta dish uses lots of fresh summer vegetables. |
wow, fresh veggies and gluten free pasta! whoohoo. i still have yet to get a CSA box. i think i would be too intimated by the overwhelming amount of veggies in it!
yum so fresh and healthy looking!
So fresh and delicious!
Everywhere I see this mysterious CSA box. I 've gathered that it local…organic produce…brought to your door. There's no such CSA box where I live, yet fortunately we have something similar. This CSA thing is fascinating, almost like a movement of sorts. Just what North America needs, more fresh veggies!
This sounds like a perfect pasta dish loaded with so many delicious summer veggies. Once again, a post that makes me envious that I'm not yet signed up to receive a CSA share. Even better would be to start my own garden. So much healthy fare.
Oh I have not had wax beans in years but I love the delicate flavor of them. I will keep my eye out for them at the farmers market this weekend. Lovely meal!
Given that I'm left to devour an entire CSA box by myself, throwing lots of veggies into one meal is the only way to do it! Dishes like this pasta are the way to go. I love that you paired everything with caramelized onions…they make everything better!
Those CSA boxes are like Christmas, aren't they? Love the kick of the jalapeno!
CSA Boxes are basically a share of a farm's crops. A group of people purchase a share in the farm's seasonal crops. It's a great way to sample a wide variety of vegetables (and some fruits, although I haven't gotten anything other than strawberries so far). I used to have a small garden, but decided to take a break due to all the pesky wildlife that are so cute, but ate much of my plantings! I do supplement what I get from my CSA Box with other fresh finds at our local farmer's market.
We have a family of 6, so we go through our CSA Box pretty quickly. If you're a smaller family and interesting in trying it, you might consider sharing it with a friend or two. Personally, if it was just for me, I would buy my fresh produce from the farmer's market as it is a lot of produce to consumer for one or two people in a week.
the jalapeno made this recipe a little bit spicy,so what I did was,tripled the jalapenos because I'm a spicy food lover. It turned out well. I presented this to my mother-in-law and gladly,she liked it! thanks for sharing this!
I'm glad you and your mother-in-law enjoyed this recipe – I love spicy food too, but toned it down for my family.
I am pretty sure that I would eat all of this myself – forget others. Lovely