No doubt, you’ve dined in many Italian restaurants or perused enough cookbooks and food magazines to know what to expect when you order or see a recipe for pasta primavera.  A lovely pasta dish filled with fresh seasonal vegetables, primavera means spring in Italian, so freshness is what it’s all about.  But did you know that there was no such thing as pasta primavera on menus and in cookbooks until after 1975?

Although the dish is derived from centuries-old genuine Italian dishes, its name and widespread popularity were created by two culinary icons, Sirio Maccioni, the owner of Le Cirque in New York City, and Craig Claiborne, the legendary New York Times food editor and restaurant critic.

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