Easy Pasta Tosses

Noodles get a fun boost with bright vegetables and spring sauces in this collection of stellar pasta recipes.

Ribbons of spaghetti roll in a pot of boiling water while your mind reels in questions on how to dress them. At that moment, the noodles’ versatility and wide range of saucing possibilities can seem utterly crippling. Should you add carrots, peas, ham or a coating of silken sauce? It’s always a real toss up—so why not toss them all?

Pasta tosses are some of the simplest meals to make and oftentimes require little preparation. While good year round, they are especially tasty in the spring and summer months when veggies are at their brightest and herbs at their most fragrant.

With pasta tossing, recipes can be easily adjusted to appeal to personal taste. Settle on a light cream sauce you enjoy, which can be simply a light sauté of heavy whipping cream until thickened, and get experimental with the additives. Don’t be afraid of sprinkling in an extra helping of your favorite garden herb or even substituting some vegetables for others (peas and asparagus make a nice swap!) But don’t overdo it—we like keeping the vegetable count below four, anymore and the individual favors will be lost in the toss.

We adore the following pasta recipes just the way they are, but encourage you to tailor them to your palate’s preferences. Let us know how you like your pasta tosses in the comment section below.

—By Emily Arno