Asparagus Pasta with Lemon
Servings: 4
Calories: 702kcal
This lemon asparagus pasta recipe is full of fresh flavor and only has 5 ingredients! It's ready in about 30 minutes and makes for an easy vegetarian meal.
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese about 3.5 ounces
- zest of two lemons divided
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 pound spaghetti
- kosher salt for the pasta water
Instructions
- Put a large pot of salted water on high heat and bring to a boil while you are prepping the other ingredients.
- Use a box grater to grate the parmesan cheese and set aside. Use a microplane grater to zest both lemons and set aside. Slice the lemons and juice them, removing the seeds.
- Trim the asparagus by bending it gently near the bottom of the stalk. It will naturally break in the right place. Cut the asparagus stalks on a bias into 1-inch long pieces.
- Add spaghetti to the boiling water and cook until just shy of al dente.
- Once the pasta is almost al dente, melt the butter in a skillet over medium low heat. Add the asparagus and cook for about 1 minute, until it turns a bright green, add lemon juice and stir.
- Use tongs to transfer the spaghetti directly from the boiling water into the skillet with the asparagus. Add ¼ cup of pasta water. Stir to coat with the lemon butter sauce. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water.
- Turn off the heat and gradually add the parmesan, stirring constantly. Add a little more pasta water if necessary. You might need ¼ to ½ cup or none at all. We want all of the cheese to melt into the liquid and coat the spaghetti. We don't want thick gloppy cheese all over the noodles, but we also don't want it swimming in sauce. You should have just enough sauce to coat all the noodles. Add ¾ of the lemon zest and stir to combine.
- Transfer to a serving bowl and top with remaining lemon zest and a bit more parmesan for serving.
Notes
- This asparagus pasta recipe goes FAST! So it's important to have all of your ingredients prepped and ready before you start cooking.
- I always prefer to grate my own cheese. Pre-grated cheese loses its moisture quickly. We want freshly grated cheese so it will melt readily, as soon as we add it to the pan.
- Don't drain the pasta! We need pasta water for the lemon parmesan sauce, so we want to keep that pasta water that's already clinging to the noodles.
- Don't overcook the asparagus in the butter. It's going to continue cooking when we add the pasta, so it really only needs a minute. We want to keep that bright green color!
- Don't add too much pasta water to the pan before you add the cheese. If you do, the cheese will not melt and create a sauce, it will just glop together in melted blobs. Start with ¼ cup and then see if you need more.
- You don't have to cut the asparagus on the bias, but it really looks pretty and means better overall texture if you do.
Nutrition
Calories: 702kcal | Carbohydrates: 93g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 67mg | Sodium: 449mg | Potassium: 547mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1592IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 278mg | Iron: 4mg