Serving up all the fresh and bright spring flavors with this lemon asparagus pasta! It’s tossed in an easy, light, and surprisingly creamy sauce of lemon juice and olive oil. Add some basil, asparagus, peas, or whatever spring veggies you’d like and you’ve got a delicious and healthy lunch waiting for you.
Something about the sunshine makes me want this lemon asparagus pasta every darn day. I asked people what their favorite spring ingredients are on Instagram stories and some popular answers included asparagus, peas, and basil. So here we are with a pasta that uses all the spring favorites and a bright zesty pasta sauce! It’s quite literally the easiest pasta sauce ever because all you do is shake some lemon juice, olive oil, and dijon mustard in a jar. I think I’ve officially decided that lemon in pasta is my favorite way to do pasta.
What you need for this lemon asparagus pasta:
Definitely lemons. No lemons = literally impossible to make this recipe.
And olive oil. The sauce brings it together! This creamy sauce requires JUST olive oil to make it creamy. It’s simplicity at its finest!
Garlic, red chili flakes, lemon juice, black pepper, and nutritional yeast for flavor.
Basil or another fresh herb! I think parsley would also be fabulous. If you can’t get your hands on a fresh herb at the moment, give it a nice sprinkling of dried herbs.
Walnuts or any other nut for some extra texture.
Pasta of course. I used Banza’s chickpea rigatoni, but anything works here! I think spaghetti would be especially delicious as the sauce can really soak into everything! Make sure to cook it al dente – which means in salted water and on the firm side. Reserve some pasta water too.
And finally…the spring veggies! I chose asparagus and peas. You can get creative, but I think this was a super simple and delicious choice.
Lemon Asparagus Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz. pasta of choice
- 4 garlic cloves
- ½-1 tsp red chili flakes *start with ½ if you want it milder
- 2 tsp lemon zest from one lemon *reserve 1 tsp for topping
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 1 bunch of asparagus (~ 12 of them), cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- black pepper to taste
- salt to taste
- walnuts
Lemon Olive Oil Pasta Sauce
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- pinch of black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta al dente according to package instructions. That means cooking it in salted water until it is cooked, but still on the firm side. Reserve ½ a cup of pasta water.
- Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. Add red chili flakes and lemon zest. Cook for minute. Add peas and asparagus. Stir until the veggies are cooked, so about 3-4 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste before taking the saucepan off the heat.
- For the sauce, add all the listed ingredients (3 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp dijon mustard, pinch of pepper) to a jar. Close the jar and shake until everything is well-incorporated together.
- When the pasta, sauce, and veggies are ready, place the saucepan with the veggies on the stove over medium heat. Add the pasta and mix well with the veggies.
- Add the sauce and black pepper; mix again. Now add basil and nutritional yeast. To finish it off, add 1/4 cup pasta water. Once the pasta water comes together with the rest of the pasta, you are done! Top with cracked black pepper, red chili flakes, lemon zest, and basil.
For more lemony pastas, I got you covered:
Lemon Broccoli Pasta with Kale
Herby Lemon Broccoli Spaghetti
