What's Cooking Tonight: Basil Pesto Pasta Primavera

Friday night pasta night :) I often make pasta primavera, it's not really a recipe so I don't normally write down what I do but tonight's was really good so I'm writing it down. I typically use whatever I have around. So for tonights recipe I didn't have to go get anything except garlic and butter ( just b/c we're out). The picture shown is not this meal, I can't seem to find my camera cord. This meal is actually very nice looking with all of the colors of the vegetables and beans (red, purplish, green, orange etc..).

Basil Pesto Pasta Primavera

1/2 box Rigati Ziti, cooked al dente
1 Tbs. Olive Oil
3 Tbs. Salted Butter
3-4 large Garlic Cloves, minced
1 Tbs. All Purpose Flour
2-3 Tbs. Whole Milk (a good splash)
2-3 Tbs. Basil Pesto
1/4- 1/2 c. White Wine (I used a chardonnay)
Kosher Salt (to taste)
Cracked Black Pepper (to taste)
Red Pepper Flake (to taste)
Garam Masala ( I used a good sprinkle of this and it was good, but I felt it wasn't needed)
1 can of Dark Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c. Frozen Peas
1/2 c. Frozen Cut Green Beans
1/2 c. Edamame, shelled and cooked
1/2 c. Shredded Carrots
3/4 c. Grape Tomatoes, sliced on the diagonal
1/2 c. Walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

Have all your veggies and pasta prepped and ready to go.
In a large sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Cook 1-2 minutes. Add garlic and cook until butter begins to brown and garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes more. Sprinkle flour over butter and garlic and wisk in. Cook flour 1-2 minutes until it begins to lightly brown. Wisk in a good splash of milk (I think it would be around 2-3 Tbs.). You don't want it to be super runny, more like a sauce consistency. The flour should make it thicken. Wisk in pesto, and then white wine. Salt and Pepper to taste. Add the rest of the vegetables and the kidney beans. Stir well to coat all of the vegetables. Drizzle with olive oil. Cook 3-4 minutes until all of the vegetables are cooked and heated through. Season to taste with salt, pepper and red pepper flake. Stir in cooked pasta. Cook until heated. Add seasoning and wine as needed. Take off heat and stir in toasted walnuts. Serve.

I served this dish with a salad, I also made pepperoni stuffed shells for Chad since this dish is meatless and almost totally cheese-less besides the pesto.
Happy Friday Everyone :) ~ s