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Creamy Asparagus Pasta
This lively springtime pasta dish was inspired by a recipe from “River Cafe London,” the most recent cookbook from Britain's landmark restaurant. The asparagus is finely chopped in the food processor; half is sautéed until tender and half is kept al dente for pleasing contrast in texture. A cup of cream binds the asparagus into a silky sauce just thick enough to coat the pasta while a sprinkle of lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice at the table brighten up the flavors.
4
Servings
Tip
Don't forget to reserve 1½ cups of the chopped asparagus to add with the cream. Also, don't forget to save about 1 cup of the cooking water before draining the pasta; you'll need it for the sauce.
25 minutes
Ingredients
-
2
pounds asparagus, tough ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
-
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
Directions
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01In a food processor, pulse the the asparagus until finely chopped, about 15 pulses. Measure out 1½ cups chopped asparagus and set aside.
Reviews
May 20, 2026
Fast & flavorful
The lemon zest really makes it pop. We usually use a shaped pasta, like rotini rather than fettucine
July 26, 2025
Nice Spring/Summer pasta dish
Prepped everything ahead of time, then rested and enjoyed an Old Fashioned. Everything came together pretty quickly, and it was a nice, light, fresh pasta dish suitable for warm weather dining. I doubled the tagliatelle, which comes in 16 oz bags, and increased the lemon, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. It just needed a bit more zip than the basic recipe produced, and the extra pasta probably required extra seasonings. I used a big Dutch oven, which made it easier to mix in the pasta. Tip: Sam’s Club sells 2lb bags of beautiful asparagus at a bargain price; perfect for this recipe.
March 29, 2025
Beautiful Dish
Made this for a special lunch for friends. It was easy to do, tasted just delicious! I put a few garlic sautéed shrimp on top for those who felt they needed a protein, but not necessary. Angel hair pasta might be nice with this too.
March 21, 2025
Delicious pasta
Recipe a little confusing to me but I got through it with no major hangups. Love the taste
March 18, 2025
Fabulous Asparagus Recipe
This was quick to prepare and delicious to eat. What a great way to celebrate asparagus! Thanks.
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I love the taste. It's like a simplified pasta primavera. My only puzzlement was the proportions. That's quite a lot of sauce for just 8 oz. of fettuccine. I would bump that up to 12 oz.