Fettuccine With Asparagus Recipe (2024)

Rather than cooking the asparagus first, I add it to the pasta water for the last 2-3 minutes (depending on your asparagus) of pasta cooking time. Drain together in the same colander. Return to the pot with the reserved pasta water, and season.

I make this a lot in the spring, usually with a half cup of petite peas to add sweetness.

This is a keeper. Added white wine and chicken stock to pot, probably a quarter cup each, a third tablespoon of butter, and a full cup of the pasta water. Then reduced over low flame until it was just silky. Then the asparagus to reheat, then the fettuccini to toss. Fettuccini soaked up everything and was deliciously flapped.

I like the idea of adding some peas to add sweetness and lemon zest and/or red chili flakes to add zip to the rather bland sauce

I season and roast the asparagus in the oven at 424° with a light drizzle of oil. I take them out while they are still crisp and squeeze a little lemon juice on them. Then I toss them with the pasta and other ingredients I use less butter). I think that it has much more flavor.

use half the asparagus to make asparagus pesto (see Bittman's NYT recipe); mix it into the fettucine; then add the 1" asparagus pieces

I think the only reason to cook the asparagus first is so you then cook the pasta in that water, which is infused with a little asparagus flavor and perhaps some nutrients as well. If you can't tell the difference, your way is certainly easier!

I would suggest adding a bit of red onion to the asparagus and to sauté them in olive oil rather than boiling in water.

I used a package of Trader Joe's Lemon Pepper Pappardelle instead of the fettucine, leaving the asparagus a little longer to hold up to the wider noodles. Wonderful!

Cooked asparagus and pasta per recipe, but made a sauce of sautéed minced shallot and garlic and butter. Added white wine and cooked it down some then added frozen peas until warmed. When pasta was done added it to the sauce and grated Parmesan into it. The peas and asparagus paired well with the garlic and shallot.

I've made this once and really liked it but used penne Because no fresh pasta. To save time, I throw the asparagus in during the last two minutes of pasta cooking and drain it all together. This way it all stays hot. Next time I might Saute some pancetta and mushrooms. Or add some grated lemon zest and capers. Very adaptable to what you have. A good basic recipe.

I love this recipe. I like to sprinkle freshly grated lemon zest over the top before serving.

I like to add a bit of sweet red chopped onion to this ... bonus of added flavor. Delish!

Lemon zest makes a tremendous difference!

I’ve been making this for years...adding lemon juice, zest and toasted pine nuts.

Delicious as is but I do think you need to add additional pasta water or else it’s a little dry. This recipe is so easy and I make it on repeat in the Spring when I can but asparagus at my local farmers market.

A good base recipe but not 5 star as written. We found it needed more flavor. It’s nice that there was an amount stated for the asparagus because 6 pieces of asparagus is not 1,5 cups unless your asparagus is baseball bat thick.

Bland and dry. If I made again, I would use more butter, more pasta water and add some grated Parmesan cheese to the pasta itself. More asparagus might help, and as others suggested peas could be good as well as perhaps some red pepper flakes to give it a little zip.

Overall it's an easy to make recipe. I forgot to keep the 2 tablespoons of pasta water and just added tap water. I also found that regular pepper and salt didn't make the pasta flavorful enough. I have lemon pepper on hand and used that. For a more complete meal, I might added another veggie to this or if you eat meat, perhaps chicken or salmon.Not sure why the pasta stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Super easy and elegant meal that doesn't take a whole lot of effort. I used about 1.5 pounds of asparagus and sautéed them with garlic, red pepper flakes and salt for about a minute or two (timed it so I started the asparagus just as the pasta was done). Added the pasta, pasta water, lemon zest and lemon juice to the asparagus and then showered with parmesan. I've also added some mushrooms with the asparagus in previous attempts.

Cooked noodles and asparagus in same pot. Could use lemon

I added more of everything and three of us still gobbled it down. Simple but good. Definitely needs more than six spears of asparagus. I followed recommendations from some of the other notes and added a bit of wine and a small bit of lemon zest; the zest turned out to be key. I meant to add peas but forgot; they would have been good.

Made with 500 g asparagus. More than six, maybe 10. They were not too thick but also not thin. Steamed them. They needed more than two minutes, maybe five or six, but were then not watery. Added the water to the pasta water. Also added a half a cup of frozen peas to the butter. A few splashes of cream worked well. Lemon zest as many have recommended, but should have been a bit more. Used mezzi rigatoni as pasta. Lovely while the noodles hold up well to the sauce. Don't skimp on the parmesan.

A great base recipe that's open to tweaks. Relatively quick to make. I used more asparagus (about 1 lb) and ravioli rather than fettuccine. Blanched asparagus was still crisp and bright. (But does it reduce its vitamins?) I left it in the colander into which I later dumped the cooked ravioli to drain, then tossed the combination into a pan with about 1/3 to 1/2 c heavy cream, rather than reserved water, until they were silky, but not as if it were an alfredo sauce. Oh, yum.

Made with fusilli and added lemon juice at the end. Very bright and spring-y!

Use fusili and add more asparagus and basil

Would scallops be good to serve on the side?

Really fresh, light and lovely. Made it exactly as is with fresh pasta and next time I will add a drizzle of olive oil and a bit of lemon zest.

This felt so decadent for something so simple. Adjusted for a pound of dried fettuccine, so close to a pound of asparagus, double the butter, and I mistakenly tossed the cheese with the pasta before serving—a happy mistake I will “accidentally” do again.

Another reader said to add a little lemon juice zest and toasted pinenuts I thought that sounded really yummy.