A comforting pasta dish, with all the light and fresh flavours of Spring. This Spring Pasta is full of artichokes, garden peas and asparagus and all brought together with a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, parsley and black pepper.
This light and vibrant pasta dish has all the flavours you know and love of Spring and a great way to use seasonal produce. Quick and simple to put together, this Spring pasta is impressive enough to serve to guests, but quick enough for a week night meal.
If you are looking for some other recipes that use Spring produce, then why not try our Easy Asparagus Tart, Chicken and Pea Risotto, Asparagus Soup or Antipasto Skewers?
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Why you will love it
- A way way of serving pasta - Pasta is always our go-to for an easy and comforting meal, but we can get a bit bored of serving it the same way. This is something new to try.
- A great way to make the most of spring vegetables - We adore Spring vegetables. They are so vibrant and full of flavour and this pasta dish is a great way to make use of vegetables like peas, asparagus and artichoke.
- Quick and easy - This all comes together in under 15 minutes with minimal effort.
- Adaptable - Use this recipe as a base and then feel free to adapt it to suit your own tastes or whatever you have in the fridge that needs using up.
Ingredients needed
- Pasta - We used tagliatelle to make this a quick cook pasta dish. But any pasta will work.
- Artichokes - To save time, we used artichokes that come in a jar of oil. You can cook your own if you like, but it will add on to the cooking time considerably. If you do cook your own, you will need to add a little extra oil to the pasta.
- Asparagus - You can prepare the asparagus by snapping the ends off. Make sure you choose fresh asparagus with a vibrant green colour.
- Peas - We used frozen peas to save time.
- Oil - This is what makes up most of the sauce for the pasta. Try to use the best quality olive oil you can, as you really will be able to taste the difference.
- Lemon - This really lightens up the sauce and adds lots of freshness. We used juice and zest.
- Parsley - This adds some freshness and goes really well with all the spring vegetables.
- Salt and pepper - Season to taste.
- Pasta water - This is our "secret" ingredient in every pasta dish and something that every Italian uses in their cooking. Adding a little bit of the starchy pasta water makes the sauce really silky smooth and cling to the pasta. It also loosens the sauce up a little, helping it go further.
How to make Spring Pasta - Step by step
One: Add the tagliatelle and asparagus, to a pan of boiling water and simmer for 6-8 minutes (or according to packet instructions).
Two: Drain the pasta and asparagus and put back in to the pan and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and serve.
Health benefits
Artichoke is the star of this Spring pasta and it has quite a meaty texture, so it's a good way to fill out vegetarian dishes. Let's face it, artichokes look a bit weird, but they definitely don't taste it. Artichokes are mentioned as a food eaten by the Greeks and Romans and they are a really popular ingredient in the Mediterranean, however it was the Dutch that introduced them to the UK in 1530 when they were grown in Henry VIII's garden. Artichokes are low in fat, but rich in fiber. They are a great source of folate and vitamins C and K.
Asparagus makes up a large part of this recipe and it is high in fibre, vitamins A, C, E and K and packed full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties.
Variations
Because the focus on this dish is the green vegetables, we didn't want to add too much of an overpowering flavour sauce, but the pasta definitely needs some kind of sauce to stop it from being dry. We went with some lemon juice, olive oil, parsley and black pepper and it's just enough to lift the dish without overwhelming it. But, equally pesto would work really well and add even more green to the dish.
This meal is vegan, but you could easily add some parmesan to it. You could also add grilled halloumi, feta or some creamy goats cheese.
We don't feel like it is missing meat at all, but if you wanted to serve some with it with a grilled chicken breast or some grilled salmon would be a great addition.
Another vegetable that works well in this dish is leek, spinach and kale. If you wanted to make the pasta a little bit more special, then you could stir some creme fraiche in to it.
What to serve with Spring Pasta
Everyone know that garlic bread and pasta are a match made in heaven. Carby heaven! Either buy some ready made, or make your own easy garlic bread by cutting up some French stick and spreading it with a mix of butter, crushed garlic and dried herbs. Then pop it in the oven for 10 minutes. Why not try our Easy Cheesy Garlic Bread recipe!
You could also keep it simple with a big green salad. The key to an epic green salad is to use a variety of greens, like romaine, spinach, kale and rocket. You want leafy greens, but crunch too. Then you need the perfect dressing. Why not try our Lemon Vinaigrette, Honey and Mustard Dressing or Tomato and Basil Vinaigrette. You could also try our Grilled Little Gem Salad.
If you want to add a big side of vegetables, then we recommend our Roasted Tenderstem Broccoli, Garlic Green Beans, Air Fryer Carrots, or Roasted Lemon Asparagus.
Storage
Store: This is best cooked from fresh. However, if you do have leftovers then you can store them in an air tight container in the fridge until the next day.
Freeze: We wouldn't recommend freezing this, as it doesn't defrost and reheat very well. It takes less than 15 minutes to cook from fresh though.
Reheat: If you stored leftovers in the fridge, then you can reheat it in a frying pan on a low heat until it is heated through. You will need to add a little bit of water to to pan to loosen the pasta up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Because it's an easy way to make the sauce really silky smooth, with no extra effort. Adding starchy pasta water (just 100ml is enough) to a fat like butter will create an emulsion and this gives a really silky smooth sauce and helps it cling to the pasta. Make sure you scoop out the water just before draining, as this ensures that it is nice and starchy.
If you use your favourite gluten free pasta and make sure that there is no cross contamination, then this is a delicious gluten free meal.
Yes, this is a vegan pasta dish.
There isn't anything that you can cook in advance, but you can have all the ingredients chopped and ready and then keep them in the fridge until you are ready to put the pasta on.
You can easily double this recipe and it doesn't change the cooking time.
No! Never rinse cooked pasta. The starchiness will emulsify with the olive oil as the sauce and help the sauce stick to the pasta better.
More vegan pasta recipes
If you’ve tried this Spring Pasta recipe, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - Use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.
Recipe
Spring Green Pasta
Ingredients
- 140 g (5 oz) Tagliatelle
- 1 can Artichoke hearts - chopped
- 8 Asparagus spears - chopped
- 150 g (1 cups) Cooked peas
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 1 Lemon - (juice and zest)
- 4 tablespoon Fresh parsley - chopped
- 1 pinch Sea salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Add 140 g Tagliatelle and 8 Asparagus spears, to a pan of boiling water and simmer for 6-8 minutes (or according to packet instructions).
- Drain the pasta and asparagus and put back in to the pan and add 1 can Artichoke hearts, 150 g Cooked peas, 1 tablespoon Olive oil, 1 Lemon (juice and zest only), 4 tablespoon Fresh parsley and 1 pinch Sea salt and black pepper.
- Mix well and serve.
Notes
- To make this Spring pasta even quicker, use some fresh tagliatelle which is ready in a few minutes.
- Don't forget to reserve some of the pasta water. You really don't want to skip this step, as it makes the sauce so silky.
- If you like your food spicy, then add a sprinkle of red chilli flakes on top before serving.
- Serve with extra Parmesan and cracked black pepper if you like. Although the parmesan would mean this isn't vegan any more.
- Top with some pine nuts for added crunch.
- Add some extra greens by cooking some broccoli at the same time as the pasta and asparagus.
Kate
Looks delicious, and calories and macro look good as well.
Thanks for sharing
nicol
love how simple and easy this is. ive never tried artichoke actually
Anushka
I'm learning how to cook right now and can't wait to try this! I LOVE that you've included how many WW Points are in it + other nutritional info. I find it really hard to calculate the calories / WW points in food cooked from scratch, but now I know you do this, I'm bookmarking your blog and trying more of your recipes! :) xx