Dinner gets a spring makeover in this pea, asparagus, and spring herb pasta that is filled with bright, fresh flavors and ingredients.
pea, asparagus, and spring herb pasta

I don’t even want you to know what’s on my windowsills.

Let’s pretend it’s this pasta which is (literally) bursting with green and would make Kermit proud.

(And not two loaves of Greek Easter bread, twelve pieces of the.boy’s grandma’s sugar-soaked semolina cake, two solid milk chocolate bunnies that are BIGGER THAN MY FACE, six Hershey’s kisses, four mini Mr. Goodbars, not enough Reese’s eggs, and a partridge in a hard-boiled egg tree.)

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But really, a hard-boiled egg tree would smell SO BAD after a while. Gross.

Whereas this asparagus? Warms my heart.

I have a strong desire to cuddle with it. Don’t tell the.boy.

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I’ve actually done a pretty good job in the last 24 hours of selectively not remembering all the leftovers we were sent home with this year.

(Although, obviously not because I didn’t not write about them. But when you put things between parentheses they obviously don’t really exist.)

(Fact.)

(Case in point.)

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You might be looking at this pasta and making anย ewww face because SO.MUCH.GREEN.

Well, you’re in good company because the.boy did that also. And then he stuffed his face with it. And then he asked for seconds.

So, yes, there is a lot of green, but there is also a pat of butter and some parmesan and somehow that makes everything right in this world.

Peas and asparagus have their own natural sweetness, which is what makes them work so well against the handfuls of bright herbs you throw in. Any herbs you want, really, so long as they are chives, chives, and more chives (my favorite). (But you could also use chervil, parsley, mint or tarragon. Although, parentheses. So use at your own risk.)

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Pea, Asparagus, and Spring Herb Pasta
 
Dinner gets a spring makeover in this pea, asparagus, and spring herb pasta that is filled with bright, fresh flavors and ingredients.
Yield: 6-8 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 lb conchiglie pasta
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 5 shallots, quartered lengthwise and sliced thinly
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 lb thin asparagus, cut into ½-inch slices
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups frozen peas
  • ⅔ cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 cup chopped mixed fresh herbs
  • ¾ cup toasted pine nuts
Instructions
  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions. Reserve 2 cups pasta water and drain.
  2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and a pinch of salt, and cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Add in the asparagus and garlic. Season again with salt and cook until bright green and tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in the peas and cook until warmed through.
  3. Add the pasta and 1 cup pasta water to the pan. Cook until the sauce starts to thicken and stick to the pasta, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour into a large bowl. Add in the parmesan cheese and butter, tossing to coat. Stir in the white wine vinegar, herbs, and pine nuts. add in more water as necessary until the sauce clings to the pasta. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: ⅙th of recipe

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59 Responses to Pea, Asparagus, and Spring Herb Pasta

  1. Lynn says:

    I love anything with peas in it like that. This looks so good! Sounds like the boy is coming around on the veggie dishes. ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. I feel you – the leftovers from our Easter seem to be multiplying somehow. It’s making me crave green things like this even more! Love all the spring happening in this dish!!

  3. Monica says:

    I’m with you, too. I’m craving asparagus and peas right now…thought I’d make risotto but seeing these greens nestled in the shells makes me want that instead.

  4. I can assure you I did NOT look at all that green and say “Ew”! It was more of a Homer Simpson drooling noise.

  5. Oh spring pasta dishes are my absolute favorite. It’s still cold enough to want a big bowl of hot buttery pasta… but we want to lighten it up a bit. Love every ingredient in here, but I have a sweet spot for peas. Childhood favorite. Adult favorite.

  6. Great way to use those spring veggies. Looks so pretty!
    Happy Wednesday Joanne! Hope it’s a beautiful one!

  7. this bowl is pasta is screaming everything Spring..love it

  8. Julia says:

    My favorite part about this pasta (other than the green) is how the little peas climbed themselves into the shells. So freaking cute. I want a pea in my shell!

    ^^^Is finding food photos “cute” a sign you’ve been blogging too long? ๐Ÿ˜‰

  9. Corina says:

    This looks lovely – but I’m also craving the contents of your window sill!

  10. SallyBR says:

    Beautiful pasta! I ve been craving risotto lately, and intend to make one that might mimic your pasta, love all the flavors in picked

    Spring is simply awesome!

  11. Erika says:

    Lovely pasta.. great way to bring in those spring veggies..

  12. Totally random, but for some reason your blog won’t load for me in bloglovin! It’s happened the last two days ๐Ÿ™ Just wanted to give you a heads up if you get any other complaints!

  13. This is random, but from the top, a few of the pasta shells looks like a wedding ring! I know, totally random. But this pasta, love! bring on more spring!

  14. Kathryn says:

    This sounds wonderfully bright + fresh. Just perfect for this time of year.

  15. Gorgeous creation Joanne! I am soooo amazed at how much work you do for your blog every week! WOW! Stunning!

  16. Jessie says:

    Chocolate bunnies are not chocolate bunnies unless they are BIGGER THAN YOUR FACE. (Although the little ones are good, too.) (Only if they’re solid chocolate.) (Except the huge ones get a free pass.)

    This pasta-full-of-green is exceptional – I love me some asparagus and peas! ๐Ÿ™‚

  17. cheri says:

    This is my kind of dish Joanne, love all the green. Sounds like you guys made out like bandits with all the goodies, good for you!

  18. Anything with asparagus rocks my world. It adds taste, texture and brings color. Last night sauteed asparagus, onion, garlic and sun dried tomatoes with brown rice. It was great. Because of the asparagus…that’s what I’m thinking.

    I can make your recipe using gluten free noodles. Your quinoa recipe is on my list for this week.

  19. kathy says:

    OMG Reese’s Eggs – I could eat them all and still want more, it’s a legit problem.

    Also I tend to make something similar to this every spring and it’s MY FAVORITE. SO springy and bright, I usually hit it with some fresh lemon juice too. Sublime. Truestory.

  20. Kate says:

    Ha! A hard-boiled egg tree. I made Aida’s spring pasta last year and loved it! Leftovers for days. ๐Ÿ™‚

  21. This pasta dish has two of my favourite veggies! Delicious!

  22. Kate says:

    I’m so glad to hear someone else uses their windowsills as extra pantry space.

  23. hard boiled egg tree?! HAHA. So not ok. Loving this bright green pasta, friend! yum!

  24. elly says:

    I decided to not even make tsoureki this year because I will seriously just eat an entire loaf in about 5 minutes.This pasta looks great – the vinegar is interesting!

  25. I kinda made a mental “ewww” cuz I don’t eat all my greens, but the fact that your boy had the same reaction and then seconds intrigues me ๐Ÿ˜‰

  26. Heather says:

    Mmm – I love asparagus, but sometimes get bored with just roasting or grilling it. This pasta looks great for Spring!

  27. Emma says:

    Well at least all those treats are on your windowsill and didn’t all go in your belly over Easter weekend! ๐Ÿ˜‰
    Simple meals like this with plenty of spring green veg are exactly what’s appealing to me right now.

  28. Shashi says:

    I wanna cuddle with this pasta! And I dont even like pasta – but you manage to make me change my mind everytime you feature a pasta recipe! ๐Ÿ™‚

  29. A perfect way to celebrate the goodness of spring.

  30. Toss in some ground up pork sausage and this is really similar to one of my favorites! Who’s making an eeeew face? They need to just be on their way. More for me!

  31. I was just looking at my herb garden yesterday evening. Seeing what wintered and what did not.
    I planted a small patch of cilantro and will be adding some plants of basil. The two green colors in the salad were fun. I like the surprise addition of the pine nuts.

  32. Christine says:

    Delicious looking, the pasta is so cute! Will be adding it to the “must make” list! Need to consume more asparagus before the season is over. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  33. Beth says:

    This looks amazing! All that green – I’m making a YUM face.

  34. I will literally eat any green thing in the world if it means I can also eat pasta. This looks delicious!

  35. Eileen says:

    Man, what is the deal with the “eww, greens” mentality? This is exactly what I want for dinner on a busy night, and I can’t say I wouldn’t chuck some more greens in for good measure! ๐Ÿ™‚

  36. Hotly Spiced says:

    I wish you’d shown us a photo of your windowsill! I too, have too many chocolatey type things in my home at the moment. I hope to be finished with them before Halloween. I love this pasta – it looks very primavera and screams of Spring – which I hope you’re experiencing xx

  37. This pasta looks so springy and delicious, I love the pea and asparagus combo ๐Ÿ˜€

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

  38. This is one of my favorite pasta meals depending on the garden harvest. Sometimes it’s peas, sometimes it carrots, sometimes it’s radishes, always great!

  39. Oh My!! We love all the ingredients in this pasta ! Whats not to love ? Butter and parmesan cheese makes everything better. Delicious!!

  40. I will never think eww green, especially since it’s my favourite colour! P.S. the goodies (oops secret’s out) on your windowsill sound like heaven on earth to me, and this pasta looks BOMB. I actually love all the greens in there!

  41. Spring has definitely sprung on this pasta! I love all the green stuff on it! ๐Ÿ˜›

  42. fresh,fast and a beautiful green speckled all over those lovely conch shell pasta….spring and in fact summers wont be complete without savoring this dish,a terrific recipe and so much flavor,thanks for sharing ๐Ÿ™‚

  43. Danguole says:

    I love anything green. Really. As much as I love carbs (sacrilege?). Needless to say, I could eat this errday and not get sick of it!

  44. Deena kakaya says:

    I love a good garden pasta, I feel fresh just thinking about the goodness and sweetness in this fresh and filling plate x

  45. Krista says:

    Ohhh, that looks so fresh and delicious, Joanne. Pure Spring in a bowl. ๐Ÿ™‚

  46. Trisha says:

    loving all the pea and asparagus recipes at the moment. this one looks great. peas are my favourite veg. so sweet! x

  47. sandra says:

    Yay – I love to see spring time fresh recipes. Enough to brighten anyone’s day!

  48. Johanna GGG says:

    bookmarked for spring – this sounds delicious and looks all the better for all the green – which obviously cancels out anything on your window sill (though you are kidding about those giant chocolate bunnies,aren’t you – maybe you need to send them to me just so I can check they are real and take very good care of them for you)

  49. Kinsey says:

    yum! I just love tossing pasta with all kinds of in season vegetables, and now that asparagus is everywhere I am so making this for our next pasta night. Pasta+shallots+asparagus+cheese sounds delightful to me.

  50. Megan says:

    I absolutely love all the green in here. It looks so springy! It’s reminding me of a fregola dish I made last year, and I seriously need to remake that or make this to get my spring veggie fix!

  51. With pasta, you can never have too much green. They just make such good friends. I love your choice of pasta for this too – I am loving the thought of peas hiding within the pasta ๐Ÿ˜€

  52. Peas and pasta such a great combination. Love it.

  53. Shannon says:

    this sounds delicious, love all the green!! and I think green is the perfect complement to brown, no? ๐Ÿ™‚

  54. Mmm this looks heavenly – it’s like spring on a bowl, which in my book means awesome!

  55. Reeni says:

    I wouldn’t hesitate to stuff my face with this beauty! I have plans for a similar pasta this week – can’t wait now – might have to bump it up. I would never be able to ignore all those goodies! I’d love some of your strong will power. ๐Ÿ™‚

  56. We are always ready for a good pasta salad and we could eat this green deliciousness anytime! Love it ๐Ÿ™‚

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