Pasta Primavera With Asparagus and Peas

Pasta Primavera With Asparagus and Peas
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
5(7,136)
Notes
Read community notes

This simple pasta primavera uses a combination of the earliest vegetables available in spring — asparagus, peas and spring onions — making it a true celebration of the season. The sauce works best with springy egg pasta, preferably homemade or a good purchased brand. Make sure not to overcook it; you need the chewy bite to stand up to the gently cooked vegetables. If you can’t find good fresh English peas, you can substitute frozen peas, but don’t add them until the last minute of cooking.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • ¼pound sugar snap peas, stems trimmed
  • ½pound asparagus, ends snapped
  • 2tablespoons unsalted butter
  • ¾cup fresh English peas
  • ¼cup thinly sliced spring onion, white part only (or use shallot)
  • 2garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • ½teaspoon fine sea salt, more as needed
  • Black pepper, more as needed
  • 12ounces fettuccine or tagliatelle, preferably fresh (see recipe)
  • cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, at room temperature
  • ½cup crème fraîche or whole milk Greek yogurt, at room temperature
  • 3tablespoons finely chopped parsley
  • 1tablespoon finely chopped tarragon
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

579 calories; 19 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 77 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 25 grams protein; 605 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil over medium-high heat.

  2. Step 2

    While the water is coming to a boil, slice snap peas and asparagus stems into ¼-inch-thick pieces; leave asparagus tips whole.

  3. Step 3

    Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add snap peas, asparagus, English peas and onion. Cook until vegetables are barely tender (but not too soft or mushy), 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 1 minute more. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.

  4. Step 4

    Drop pasta into boiling water and cook until al dente (1 to 3 minutes for fresh pasta, more for dried pasta). Drain well and transfer pasta to a large bowl. Immediately toss pasta with vegetables, Parmigiano-Reggiano, crème fraîche and herbs. Season generously with salt and pepper, if needed.

Ratings

5 out of 5
7,136 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Primavera the best season and the recipe a great combination of ingredients (asparagus "the rite of spring). May I add, in Italia we use the garlic whole and crushed to flavor the cooking fat (oil or butter) then it is discarded. To finish the dish instead of creme fraiche drizzle the best quality extra virgin olive oil over the finished product, the flavor would be more natural and lighter.

This recipe is exceptional. I use frozen baby peas and to keep them tasty and crisp I add the frozen peas after draining the pasta then toss. The heat of the cooked pasta cooks them yet leaves them crisp.
Enjoy!

For everyone who says there isn't enough sauce - I added about 1/2 cup chicken broth at the end of cooking the veggies, and also mixed about 1/4 cup water from the pasta in when I tossed everything together. This resulted in a less dairy-focused but still flavorful mix that allowed the lovely taste of the spring vegetables to shine through.

First did this one in the spring with fiddleheads instead of asparagus (same family, apparently), but it works well with almost any combination of vegetables in season, including broccoli and red pepper, zucchini and shiitake mushrooms, etc. The only constants seem to be garlic, green onions, yogurt, parsley, and reggiano.

Yummy.

Quick, easy, and delicious - here are my modifications: 2 lb asparagus, double the shallots and garlic, skipped the snow peas, tiny pinch of dried tarragon (such a tricky herb) while cooking, splash of vermouth cooked down a bit then ~1/4 c of pasta water to moisten, 1/2 lb pasta, and a squeeze of lemon and drizzle of EVOO instead of the creme fraiche (as suggested by chef Pace).

Barilla is my favorite pasta. This recipe is easy and delicious, All I could find fresh were asparagus and sugar peas but "No Worries" it was still delicious!

I would like to pass along a CAVEAT concerning recipes that call for boiling pasta in heavily salted water and also call for the same pasta water to be used added to the sauce: much too salty. My solution is to not boil the pasta in salted water and it comes out just fine.

Forget the creme fraiche or Greek yogurt instead use: Heavy Cream, bring to boil for only 1 minute and use

A really great dish. As English peas were out of season I had to, as the recipe suggested, use frozen peas. Also as the chef from Italy suggested, I drizzled olive oil over the finished product rather than crème fraiche. I real hit!

This is as easy and good as it sounds. I used fresh favas in place of the peas, and it was outstanding. The creme fraiche is essential and ensures the basis for a good sauce for this recipe. The tarragon gave it an extra taste of spring. Chives would be a nice addition.

I left out the creme fraiche, and drizzled with olive oil and added 1 large lemon's worth of lemon zest. It was pretty perfect.

This reminds me of the recipe for the Pope's risotto, published in the Times several years ago. Lidia cooked it during a visit to NY by the then Pope. It is not available in Cooking but should be. I make it ever Spring.

First of all, this recipe is easy, quick, and delicious.

I skipped the sugar snap peas. Cooked the onion, garlic, and asparagus for 10 minutes (the entire time the pasta was cooking). Added this to the cooked pasta, as well as an entire bag of frozen peas (per recommendation by another commenter) -- I was nervous that the peas wouldn't cook completely, but they did and weren't mushy.

Definitely save some pasta water to add at the end.

I would make this again in a heartbeat.

I made this recipe, and we enjoyed it. I do have a question. The recipe says to slice the snap peas, but the picture show whole snap peas. Maybe it doesn't matter, but the question is --- to slice the snap peas or not to slice the snap peas? Either way, I would make it again.

Didn't love the taste or texture of Greek yogurt. Recommend heavy cream or half and half instead. Reserved some pasta water just in case - all combined, it was very thick and dry - so the pasta water was helpful to break it up. Broth would help here too. Finished with lemon zest and juice to taste at the end--thanks to other reviewers for that suggestion!

This takes 20 minutes--after you've prepped the veggies--so take that into your time equation on a weeknight. Loved the flavor and the tarragon adds a wonderful touch. Will try a little added prosciutto next time.

Absolutely phenomenal! Agree with others that I’d prefer it a little saucier, so I doubled the yogurt and cheese the second time I made it. Definitely keep some pasta water to help the sauce emulsify. I also used red onions the second time as that’s what I had on hand and actually thought it was way better than with shallots.

Excellent recipe! I did not have crème fraiche on hand so I subbed with cottage cheese and some pasta water to thin it out and it came out delicious! Bonus points for sneaking in some extra protein to a vegetarian dish.

Easy and excellent with fresh asparagus and sugar snaps from the farmers' market. Love the tarragon addition -- worth buying some to add some extra and interesting flavor. (Use leftover tarragon to make any of the chicken tarragon recipes on this site.)

This dish was absolutely delicious. We made it as the recipe was written, and made homemade noodles to accompany it. Took the tiep from Davide and added the peas at the end with the hot noodles. Fresh, creamy and delicious, what a great way to welcome spring!

This was great! Fresh, tasty, not heavy--as some creamy things can be. Perfect for a warm-ish spring day. Used fresh pasta, but a longer version of strozzapreti: nice and chewy, which went perfectly with the snap of the veggies. Highly recommend!

Quick & delicious! Only adjustment was to add lemon zest at the end.

After reading unanimous rave reviews, I was so excited to try this recipe when our asparagus popped up this year. But my end result was very bland and I am not looking forward to the leftovers. I guess I've come to prefer a medley of bolder and contrasting flavors.

Lemon and pasta sauce

Super easy and good. Next time will try a different pasta shape, something smaller that would hang onto the vegetables a little better - maybe shells or elbows.

Very flexible recipe. Used just asparagus and frozen peas. Mixed in sour cream and yogurt (2%) as that's what I had. Minced red onion instead of spring and added fresh chives. Reserved pasta water and mixed it in at the end as it was a little dry. Skipped tarragon. Soooooo good.

This was fantastic and fresh. Used shallot, added extra asparagus, chopped snap peas and frozen peas, then added extra crème fraiche in the end because we cooked 16 oz pasta (not 12oz as the recipe indicates). Forgot about the tarragon but didn’t miss it!

Made the pasta in the link, easy method, good results. Followed the recipe except didn’t have enough crème fraiche, subbed some ricotta. I also didn’t chop the garlic but smashed it and let it sit in the cooking butter for a bit to flavor the butter first. There’s plenty of sauce if you’re tossing well with pasta water. Whole family loved it.

This is a wonderful recipe. I used ramps instead of spring onions because that was what was in season near me. I chiffonaded the greens of ramps along with the tarragon and parsley with superb results! Go whole hog like I did with Melissa Clark’s fresh pasta recipe too! YUM!

Made as directed, really good. Had some potato chips on the side, and I couldn't help but think the two should join forces. Crunch up some salty chips, sprinkle on top, throw everything in the oven for a few minutes, and voilà — grown up potato chip casserole.

Made last night as written, or as close as I could. Had dried tarragon, no fresh. Whisked a tablespoon of sour cream with 1/2 cup of pasta water and tossed that with the pasta and asparagus, peas mix with shallot. Drizzle of good olive oil and pinch of salt before serving. It was outstanding. Look forward to making it a spring tradition.

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