Fettuccine Primavera: Easy Creamy Pasta with Vegetables

Name: Fettuccine Primavera
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 lb fettuccine noodles; 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil; 3/4 cup of grated parmesan or romano cheese; 1 cup heavy cream — can use coconut cream if you prefer; 1 bunch broccoli, chopped; 3 carrots, sliced; 1 tsp dried parsley or 1 tbsp fresh parsley (optional); Fresh ground black pepper

Published: Jul 26, 2020 · Modified: Mar 6, 2025 by Cooking Chat · This post may contain affiliate links

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

Fettuccine Primavera is an easy and delicious creamy pasta recipe. The long fettuccine noodles are tossed with cream, cheese and oil, along with vegetables, for a complete meal. This meal has special memories for our family, so most recently we enjoyed it with a special Champagne! Disclosure: some of the wines described were sent as complimentary samples.

Fettuccine backstory

When I first started cooking for myself after college, my repertoire involved alternating between packaged mac & cheese and pasta with jarred tomato sauce. Somehow, I had the temerity to get the idea of cooking for Jodi on one of our first dates. I spotted a recipe for fettuccine primavera, and thought I could pull it off. The dish has a simple creamy goodness, and came out well the very first time I tried it. The date was a success, and now over 25 years later this meal continues to please the palate while bringing back good memories!

My cooking has certainly evolved from the days where making this dish was a big deal. We still love to enjoy this fettuccine primavera, and I make it fairly regularly, including for romantic occasions for the sentimental appeal. And our son has been brought into the fold of appreciating this dish, too. At one point he was known to request it for his birthday. Alas, his taste has gotten more expensive–he now asks for filet mignon.

What is fettuccine primavera?

“Primavera” means spring in Italian, so fettuccine primavera often features fresh spring vegetables and herbs in a creamy sauce.

Our standard fettuccine primarvera recipe features broccoli and carrots for the vegetables. Although it has spring in the name, we like to make it throughout the year. This creamy pasta dish hits the spot on a chilly night!

Feel free to add fresh herbs you have on hand–parsley or basil would be a natural choice. You can also add or substitute spring vegetables like snap peas. If you want to use asparagus, always a harbinger of spring for me, check out our Roasted Asparagus and Mushroom Fettuccine recipe.

Recipe tips

Below we will give you some tips for making this Fettuccine Primavera recipe. Click here to jump down to the recipe card to get the complete step by step instructions.

The fettuccine sauce thickens quickly, so you want to have things timed so that the veggies are cooked and ready to add a few minutes before the pasta is done. This helps the veggies mix in with the sauce better.
Get the vegetables chopped and ready to go as a first step. You can get the water starting to boil as you chop the veggies. But start steaming the carrots before adding the pasta to the water, so that the vegetables finish first.
Get your cheese, oil and cream measured while the pasta cooks, as you will want to mix these sauce ingredients into the cooked pasta as soon as you have drained it.
Finely grated Parmesan cheese such as shown above creates a more consistent sauce than shredded cheese. You can use shredded cheese, you will just have bits of cheese in the mix.
Lately I have been using So Delicious Organic Creamer made from coconut milk. This is primarily to make it dairy free so our son can eat it, but this substitution also cuts down the calories and fat substantially. I pull out a portion for him after mixing in the creamer and oil, then he tosses his with the GoVeggie vegan cheese for a nondairy fettuccine.

Wine Pairing for Fettuccine

Fettuccine primavera is one of those dishes that I’ve served with both white and red fairly often. In the white department, l like to serve this with a Russian River Chardonnay from Sonoma, as they tend to be fairly lean, and also bring back good memories of our trips to the region.

The Eric Kent Russian River Chardonnay a wonderful Sonoma Chard with layers of flavor. We enjoyed it with our fettuccine during our most recent remake of the dish in 2020.

For a remake of this fettuccine recipe earlier in 2020, I opened a bottle of the 2018 Montinidoli Tradizionale Vernaccia di San Gimignano ($23, 13% ABV).

This Vernaccia is a classic white wine from Tuscany. Notes of almond and lemon fruit, the medium bodied white wine has depth and complexity. Definitely a good match for the cheese in this pasta dish.

I have written previously about Elisabetta, the energetic 80 something owner / winemaker at Montenidoli. Read more about her along with our Tuscan Kale Pasta recipe.

Sparkling wine pairings

In advance of Valentines Day 2025, I received a sample bottle of the Piper-Heidsieck Cuvée Brut ($69, 12% ABV). I figured that this classic Champagne would be a great wine to try with our fettuccine with alfredo sauce and veggies for a special occasion meal.

The Piper-Heidseck Champagne has a light floral nose with brioche notes. On the palate, subtle lemon fruit and a hint of caramel. Delicate and well-balanced, with a nice clean finish. Jodi said it was one of her favorite sparkling wines! The Champagne cleansed the creaminess of the pasta, making it a very good pairing. Definitely consider this fettuccine and Champagne combo for a date night!

We have also paired this fettuccine recipe with an interesting sparkling Picpoul from Halter Ranch. So while Chardonnay might be our go to choice for fettuccine, it’s definitely worth considering bubbly as a pairing option for the creamy pasta!

Red wine pairings

For reds, I like to go with something medium bodied with enough fruit and finesse that it won’t overwhelm the pasta.

Pinot Noir is one option that can definitely work. During our most recent remaking of this fettuccine recipe, we opened the 2016 Harper Voit Strandline Pinot Noir (appx. $45, 14.3% ABV) from the Willamette Valley. The wine has raspberry fruit with notes of chocolate, and layers of flavor. The fruit forward, delicate Oregon Pinot turned out to be a very good pairing! You could certainly swap in other Pinots that you enjoy.

Going back to a time I made this dish for a Valentine’s Day meal, I selected the 2012 J. L. Chave Mon Couer Cotes du Rhone. This pairing was part of a Valentine’s Day Wine Pairing Weekend event.

Chave is an outstanding Rhone producer, and I’ve enjoyed a number of his wines. I don’t tend to put much stocks in labels, but the heart on this bottle made it a natural for Valentine’s Day! Plus, I thought it would be the right style of red to go with the dish. How did it do?

The Mon Couer is dusky on the nose with scent of violets. Great structure. I tasted cherry and persimmon (the first thing that popped to mind to describe an interesting nuance). Silky mouthfeel, which is nice with the cream. Definitely a pairing that worked well!

Recipe card