Asparagus pasta with red onion, and lemon, a bit of spice from red chili flakes, and finished off with some parmesan cheese. So quick, easy, and light, yet really delicious.
Being stuck in my apartment, I have had the opportunity to revisit some recipes I would not usually get the chance to cook again. I have a massive library of cookbooks that I have acquired over the years, and I love perusing them for inspiration every chance I get. I have wanted to go back and play around with Jamie Oliver’s second Italian cookbook, Jamie Cooks, Italy. The first one, Jamie’s Italy, is by far one of my favorite cookbooks ever. (I get a small teeny, tiny commission if you use the links here on the blog and every bit helps me fund this page.) I particularly love the chicken lasagna I adapted from his Hunter’s lasagna in that book. I use his pasta recipe for the base for my fresh pasta recipe also. Though if you haven’t noticed, I never make ANYTHING the same as any recipe I find! I’m always tinkering with it somehow; I can’t help it; it’s just who I am!
This recipe is based on the asparagus pasta recipe I found in Jamie Cooks Italy. I’ve made it before, and I had a bunch of asparagus I needed to use up. Of course, I didn’t have everything that the recipe called for. So, I had to improvise. I think I liked this version even more than I did the original recipe. I, of course, had to have asparagus, but I changed almost everything else..lol.
This may be the quickest pasta recipe I have ever posted. While the pasta water is heating up, you have plenty of time to prep the ingredients, and everything cooks at the same time you are cooking the pasta. In absolutely no time, you have a light yet, elegant, and surprisingly economical pasta dish that will please almost everyone. I love the way this pasta dish came out. It is light and delicate, yet has some zip from the red chili flakes. The lemon juice and zest really add some much-needed acid to bring out the asparagus and the red onion. This asparagus pasta dish is pure heaven to me.
I know right now, many of you actually have time on your hands. (If you are reading this during the Corona Pandemic.) And you might be tempted to make your own pasta for this dish. For this particular dish, you want the really starchy water from cooking dried pasta. The fresh pasta cooking water never seems to get starchy enough as you only cook the pasta for a minute or so. If you want to make it with fresh by all means, go ahead (again I have an excellent recipe here), I would love to be proven wrong. I almost decided to make fresh myself. Let me know if you did. You could easily substitute any dried pasta for the spaghetti, it is what I had on hand. Spaghetti is one of my favorite pasta shapes, and I use it in many dishes besides the usual tomato sauce.
Let me know if you make this pasta recipe or if you tinkered with it with the ingredients you have on hand in your kitchen. I’d love to hear from you. I’m hoping on my next journey to experience the grocery shopping lines I pick up some more to make this asparagus pasta again.
- 1 lb dried spaghetti
- salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 lb asparagus cut into bite-sized pieces cut on the diagonal if you want to be fancy
- ½ cup red onion chopped
- ½ teaspoon red chili flakes
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 large lemon jest grated and reserved
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Bring a large pot of water to a boil. When the water has come to a boil, heavily salt the water.
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Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions till al dente.
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While the pasta is cooking heat a large coverable skillet over medium heat.
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When the skillet is hot, add the olive oil and the butter. Let the butter melt.
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Add the chopped red onion and the chili flakes. Cook until the onion has sweated and softened.
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Add the asparagus and a couple of spoonfuls of the water from the cooking pasta.
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Cover and let cook on simmer for a few minutes while the pasta finishes cooking.
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When the spaghetti has finished cooking to the al dente stage, remove the pasta by lifting with tongs into the skillet or a basket strainer. You want some of the pasta cooking water to go along with the cooked spaghetti to make the sauce. You can strain it in a colander. But be sure to keep a little of the cooking water for finishing the dish.
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Turn off the heat and toss in the parmesan cheese and the grated lemon zest. Continue to toss until the cheese has blended with the pasta water and made a creamy but thin sauce.
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Squeeze in the juice from the lemon (be careful not to get any seeds, you can use a towel or strainer to keep the seeds out if needed.) Toss the pasta again briefly.
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Serve immediately.
I have found that this pasta actually reheats beautifully if you are careful to not overcook it.
