Posted on by

How Claire Saffitz Makes Pasta Primavera with Homemade Cavatelli | Dessert Person

A big thank you to our friends at Mill for sponsoring this episode! Mill helps reduce food waste—perfect for kitchen scraps like veggie peels, herb stems, and egg shells. Right now, they’re generously offering Dessert Person subscribers $125 off, so it’s a great time to make a positive impact in your kitchen. Learn more at: https://www.mill.com/clairesaffitz

How Claire Saffitz Makes Pasta Primavera with Homemade Cavatelli | Dessert Person

Claire Saffitz is back with a perfect spring recipe: homemade cavatelli pasta tossed with blanched asparagus, fresh herbs, lemon, and parmesan in a vibrant Pasta Primavera. This fresh, seasonal dish highlights how simple ingredients can become something special when made from scratch.

In this episode of Dessert Person, Claire shows how to make homemade ricotta cavatelli using just ricotta, flour, and eggs – no pasta machine required. Paired with spring vegetables like asparagus, chopped leeks, and bright herbs like parsley, chives, and basil, this pasta primavera is light, flavorful, and easy to make at home.

Whether you’re craving a vegetarian pasta dish or looking to master your pasta dough skills, this recipe hits all the right notes for spring cooking.

Ingredients Highlighted:
• Homemade cavatelli pasta (ricotta dough)
• Blanched asparagus
• Olive oil, garlic, chopped leek
• Parmesan cheese, parsley, chives, basil
• Lemon zest and juice
• Butter to finish
Watch to learn:
• How to make cavatelli pasta from scratch
• Best way to blanch asparagus for pasta
• How Claire balances fat, acid, and herbs for flavor

1 lb asparagus
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 clove garlic, smashed
1 leek, white and light green parts finely chopped
2 ounces finely grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
Finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Torn basil
1 tablespoon butter, to finish

Homemade Cavatelli
12 ounces strained whole-milk ricotta
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the surface

#ClaireSaffitz #DessertPerson #PastaPrimavera #HomemadePasta #Cavatelli #SpringRecipes #VegetarianDinner #AsparagusPasta #RicottaPasta #SeasonalCooking #HowToMakePasta

Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:38 Making fresh pasta
01:26 Ingredients & Special Equipment
02:50 Mill
04:22 Make the Ricotta Dough
07:22 Divide & Roll the Dough
08:19 Make the Cavatelli Shapes
09:25 Prep the Vegetables
11:40 Chicken Intermission
14:34 Now back to the recipe…
15:43 Cook the Vegetables
18:15 Cook the Pasta
21:37 Plate & Serve
23:14 Cat Cam

15 Replies to “How Claire Saffitz Makes Pasta Primavera with Homemade Cavatelli | Dessert Person”

  4. % of viewers who love Claire's videos: 100.
    % who will actually seek out and purchase a "cavatelli maker": .000003.

  6. Claire, the impact you've had on my life has been so huge. Your philosophies have healed my relationship with food and helped me reach a much healthier place after struggling most of my life with under-eating. You've also helped me understand how baking skills elevate cooking rather than them being two opposing or seperate worlds. Thankyou Claire from the bottom of my heart <3

  7. Hi Claire, please try making Hostess Donettes powdered mini donuts.

  9. Totally agree with husbands wanting to be the pasta person and us (the wives) wanting to be the pasta person too bc we are “dough people”. This week I made homemade butternut squash and ricotta ravioli using Claire’s older pasta recipe and it was PHENOMENAL! My husband was impressed and said I made pasta on my first try better than on his third try 😂❤

  10. When summer rolls around, I would love to see any pasta dish that involves eggplant. There’s nothing better (to me) than local, in-season eggplant. I’m always looking for ways to celebrate it.

  12. Hi claire. I bought your cookbook dessert person. I watched your video on making the croquembouche and that was amazing. Your are very very talented to make the giant of the dessert world free handed without it collapsing, getting surgar burn, and get to form a perfect cone, or caving in. That is very rare. You are very talented. You inspired me to want to make pate a choux. I'm making my first croquembouche with a mold in October. I can't wait. I love fresh pasta and that pasta you made looks absolutely divine. And pasta is very easy to make so it's beginner friendly. Keep up the great work. ❤❤

  13. 8:37 I REALLY appreciate that you decide to leave moments like this in these episodes. It's encouraging for beginners and home chefs to know that even professionals sometimes need to re-try or tweak measurements in order to get the right consistency. There's a refreshing human honesty to the way you record your process, and I love that you show the both the triumphs and struggles to get such beautiful finished dishes 💜

  14. Looks absolutely amazing!!!
    ❤️👍🏻
    Shalom from Alaska ❤️❄️⛷️✡️🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

  15. I’d love to see any pastas that can be made entirely by hand? Investing in a pasta maker would be tough if I’ve never made it before, but this looks doable!

Comments are closed.