Pasta Primavera
Dehydrated pasta, freeze-dried vegetables, and enough fat to make it read as a real dinner.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 113
- protein
- 18 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 6 min
- total time
- 8 min
- water
- 475 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Bikepacking
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Precooked and dehydrated pasta | 4 oz | small shapes only; long noodles rehydrate unevenly |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried mixed vegetables | 1/4 cup | |
| Avocado oil | 1 tbsp | a single-serve packet saves the bottle |
| Butter powder | 1 tsp | |
| Shelf-stable grated Parmesan | 2 tbsp | the shaker-can kind, not fresh |
| Italian seasoning, dried lemon, black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Boil 475 ml of water. Drop in the pasta and the vegetables at the same time.
- Cut the heat, cover the pot, and wait 5 minutes. Stir once halfway so nothing welds to the bottom.
- Drain off whatever water is left. Do this carefully and downhill of your feet.
- Add the oil, butter powder, and Parmesan to the hot pasta and stir until the powder disappears.
- Season at the end, not in the water. Lemon and pepper go last.
The pasta has to be precooked and dried at home. Raw pasta wants a rolling boil and eight minutes of fuel; dried cooked pasta only needs to reabsorb water, which a covered pot off the heat does fine. That is the whole reason this works on a small stove.
Draining feels wasteful, and it is, but the pasta comes out coated rather than soupy. Everything that makes it taste like food goes in after the water leaves: oil for calories, butter powder for the flavor oil does not have, Parmesan for salt. Add the seasoning at the end so the lemon does not boil off.
Packing
Pasta and vegetables share one quart freezer bag. Oil packet, butter powder, Parmesan, and seasonings ride in a small second bag so the fat stays off everything else.
Variations
- A foil packet of chicken or tuna turns it into a much bigger dinner.
- Skip draining and use 350 ml instead, then let it cook down into a sauce.
- Freezer bag method: pour the boiling water into the bag, seal, insulate it, and wait 10 minutes before draining.
https://trailcooking.com/2019/03/13/trail-eats-pasta-primavera