Piece of Life

You can’t imagine how happy I am to see Quebec asparagus appearing on market stalls! Their season is so short that you really have to make the most of them while they’re available, and enjoy them as much as you can. Whether eaten plain, with a few simple sides, or in more elaborate dishes, they go perfectly with everything.

About the Pasta with Asparagus and Green Vegetables

This recipe is inspired by chef Jamie Oliver and his Spring Veg Linguine. It’s extremely simple to make and absolutely delicious.

You can easily adjust the recipe with different vegetables. I kept the asparagus and peas from the original recipe and simply added zucchini. Jamie Oliver recommends using the top part of the asparagus because it’s more tender, but of course save the rest of the asparagus to eat [you can also freeze them for future use].

The lemon sauce adds a very pleasant touch of freshness. Jamie Oliver includes mint, but since I didn’t have any, I used basil instead. It works very well! However, I’ll try making this recipe again with mint since that should add even more freshness to the dish.

What pasta to choose?

As for the choice of pasta, well, you can use anything you like.

Jamie Oliver used linguine, while I chose orecchiette. Jamie Oliver used fresh pasta, and I used dried pasta. So choose whatever you prefer! There is, however, one small difference depending on the type of pasta you’ll choose (fresh vs dried pasta): if you use fresh pasta, add your vegetables to the pot at the same time as you add the pasta, since it cooks in just a few minutes. With dried pasta, the cooking time is longer (often around ten minutes), so you should add the vegetables about three minutes before the pasta finishes cooking.

As usual, don’t forget to save some of the pasta cooking water. You’ll use it to finalize your sauce.

Finally, I added some burrata for an extra treat, but this is, of course, optional [but let’s be honest, it’s so good!].

If you love burrata as much as I do, here are a few recipes you might enjoy:

– Grilled nectarine salad with arugula and burrata

– Burrata with Strawberries and Pistachio Pesto

Pasta with Asparagus and Green Vegetables

A delicious pasta dish bursting with freshness thanks to the green vegetables and lemon sauce. Don’t forget the burrata for an extra touch of indulgence.

Portions

Prep Time: 10

Cooking time: 10

Print Recipe

Équipements

Ingredients

1 package of pasta (of your choice) (about 450 g of dry pasta)
1 zucchini
250 g frozen peas
300 g asparagus
30 g parmesan cheese

Sauce

1 garlic clove
1 lemon (zest and juice)
60 mL olive oil
10 basil leaves + more for serving (30 g of fresh mint in the original recipe)
1 cup cooking water
Salt & pepper to taste
1 burrata (optional)

Instructions

Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil.
In the meantime, cut the asparagus in half and keep only the top part [but don’t throw away the rest, save it for another use]. Cut the asparagus tips into pieces about 3 cm long.
Cut the zucchini into small dice.
Once the water is boiling, add some salt and add the pasta to the pot. Cook according to the package directions.
If you're using fresh pasta: add all your vegetables to the water at the same time as the pasta.
If you're using dried pasta: add your vegetables when there are 3 minutes left before the pasta is cooked.
Once the pasta is cooked, reserve about 1 cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta and vegetables.

Prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking.

Zest the lemon, then squeeze it to extract the juice.
Add the olive oil, minced garlic, and coarsely chopped basil leaves.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir until the sauce is smooth.
Add the sauce and Parmesan cheese to the pasta. Toss to combine, then add a little pasta water to ensure the pasta is well coated. Add more pasta water as needed.
Garnish with a few basil leaves and add some burrata, if you like.