A light and lemony pasta dish with asparagus pesto tossed with penne and asparagus tips
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time11 minutesmins
Total Time16 minutesmins
Course: Lunch, Main Course, Pasta
Cuisine: American, Canadian, Italian
Keyword: asparagus pasta recipe, asparagus pesto pasta, asparagus pesto penne, easy asparagus pasta, penne with asparagus pesto, pesto pasta
Servings: 4
Calories: 222kcal
Ingredients
1lbfresh asparagusrinsed and woody ends removed
1 ½cupspenne pastaor other short pasta
1clovegarlic, minced
½lemon, juicedapproximately 2 Tablespoons
2Tbspextra virgin olive oil
¼cupfreshly grated Parmesan cheeseplus extra for garnish
1tspkosher saltor ½ tsp table salt, plus more for pasta water
fresh cracked black pepper
½cupreserved salty pasta cooking water
snipped fresh chivesoptional, for garnish
Instructions
Rinse asparagus and trim woody ends. Cut off tips in about 2 inch pieces. Cut one further row from the top to have about 1 cup of asparagus tips and tops. Reserve.
Roughly chop remaining asparagus. Add to food chopper, processor or blender, along with garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Process until fairly smooth. Drizzle in olive oil and process again until well blended.
Grate parmesan and stir into pesto. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if required.
Meanwhile, bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta 2 minutes less than al dente cooking instructions on package. Drop reserved asparagus tips into pot and cook for 2 minutes until pasta is al dente.
Drain pasta, reserving ½ cup of hot cooking water. Toss hot cooked pasta with pesto, stirring until well coated. Add some of the cooking water and toss until a creamy sauce forms, adding more water if necessary, up to but not more than ½ cup.
Serve immediately with more freshly grated parmesan cheese and snipped fresh chives if desired.