The flavors of spring, all in one pasta dish.
There’s nothing that screams ‘spring’ more than lemon! There’s so many lemon recipes (mainly desserts) that I’d love to make but I stop myself because I want to have some variety in the recipes I share. Do you want to see more lemon recipes? Let me know in the comments!
The lemon flavor isn’t overpowering, rather it creates a simple sauce that is light, refreshing and perfect to highlight all the spring produce. The sauce is just lemon, butter, and a little bit of pasta water (this helps everything stick together) mixed and cooked until everything evenly coats the pasta.
Fresh chopped vegetables not only add great color but they add texture and flavor to this simple lemon-butter sauce. I used asparagus, tomatoes, corn, carrots, and onion. I wasn’t sure how all the vegetables would taste together, but they were great. You can use any vegetables you have on hand. The idea is to use produce that is in season. Here’s a great guide for produce that is perfect to buy during the month of May.
This recipe is adapted from the book The Vegetable Butcher. I’d highly recommend checking it out! You’ll learn how to chop every type of vegetable and it’s a great book to have around as reference. Not only is it nice to be able to quickly see how to prepare a certain vegetable, but they also share a few recipes to use with each type of vegetable. It’s great for inspiration.
Are you going to make Spring Harvest Pasta? I’d love to hear your thoughts, leave a comment below with any questions or suggestions.
Spring Harvest Pasta
https://northcoasteats.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/spring.pasta_.northcoasteats-0330.jpg
| Yield: serves 4 to 5 people |
Fresh spring produce and pasta tossed together with a light lemon sauce.
You'll Need...
- 3/4 pound pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 12 ounces asparagus, roughly chopped
- 3 large carrots, sliced
- 12 cup corn
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
- handful of microgreens, optional
Directions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water for sauce. Drain remaining water. Set pasta aside.
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Cook the onion. Add salt. Cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic, salt, pepper, asparagus, carrots. Cook until soft, about 5 to 8 minutes.
- Add corn, tomatoes, and red pepper flakes. Cook an additional 2 minutes.
- Add butter, lemon, and 1/2 cup pasta water. Simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes.
- Garnish pasta with additional lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, and microgreens.
Additional Notes
images & text © North Coast Eats
adapted from The Vegetable Butcher
Leave a Reply