Tortellini with Garden Vegetables

A bright, summer-leaning pasta supper that comes together in the time it takes the tortellini to boil. The vegetables go in by hardness order: carrot first, zucchini next, then tomato and peas at the end so each lands at peak texture instead of collapsing into the same mushy pile.

The move that pulls this above a generic pasta toss is reserving a third cup of starchy cooking water before draining. That liquid emulsifies with the olive oil and Parmesan into a glossy, cling-to-every-noodle coating you can’t fake with extra oil alone.

Fresh basil at the end keeps its color and perfume; stirred in earlier, it goes black and grassy. A grind of black pepper at the table sharpens the whole bowl.

Pro Tips

• Slice the carrot and zucchini thin and even so they cook through in five minutes without one finishing before the other.
• Sauté the vegetables low and slow. High heat browns them and you lose the clean garden flavor this dish is built on.
• Reserve more cooking water than you think you need. You can always add more to loosen the sauce, but you can’t get it back once drained.
• Use a ripe in-season tomato. Pale supermarket tomatoes leave the dish flat.

Variations

• Swap tortellini for penne or fusilli to catch more sauce in the ridges.
• Add a handful of baby spinach with the peas for extra greens.
• Stir in a spoonful of pesto or a squeeze of lemon for a brighter finish.