Spring is finally here! There’s nothing that lifts a body’s spirits quite like the green shoots and gentle sun of spring after a long, hard winter. And then there’s the wonderful produce that starts to appear in our markets this time of year—tiny peas, artichokes, fava beans in their hefty pods, plump ruby red strawberries and, best of all, slender green asparagus.
Asparagus makes for a great antipasto or side dish, but it can also serve as a delicious condimento for risotto or—even better in my opinion—pasta. Here at Memorie di Angelina we’ve already seen how to make asparagus lasagna—a fabulous if effortful dish. Today I want to share with you a quicker and easier way to enjoy asparagus and pasta, tagliatelle alla crema di asparagi, tagliatelle dressed with a silky smooth sauce of puréed asparagus simmered in butter and cream and, if you like, a shallot or two for extra savor.
Its a dish you can whip up in no more than 30 minutes, assuming you’re using store-bought pasta. But as easy as it is to make, it’s out of this world delicious, with the butter and cream providing a lovely sweet counterpoint to the grassy flavor of the asparagus. And to my eyes it looks quite elegant on the plate. That makes tagliatelle alla crema di asparagi equally suitable as a weeknight supper or as a primo piatto for an special occasion dinner.
Ingredients
For 4-6 servings
- 300-400g (11-14 oz) tagliatelle, either homemade or store-bought
For the sauce:
- 500g (1 lb) fresh asparagus (more or less)
- 250 ml (1 cup) of heavy cream
- 50g (2 oz) butter
- Salt
- 1-2 shallots (optional)
Grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Directions
Prepare your pasta (optional)
If making your own fresh egg pasta: preparing the dough following the instructions in this post, then roll it out very thin (setting 3 on my KitchenAid attachment) and cut it into strips about 6mm (1/4 inch) wide using the fettuccine/tagliatelle cutter attachment of your pasta machine.
Prep and cook your asparagus
Trim and (if using fat asparagus, peel) your asparagus spears.
Boil the asparagus in well-salted water until it is perfectly tender (not crisp-tender), about 5-6 minutes for thin asparagus, 7-8 for the thicker variety. (Test for doneness with a paring knife.) Drain, refresh under cold water and pat dry.
Make the sauce
Cut off the tips of your cooked asparagus and set them aside. Cut the rest into lengths and place into a food processor or blender with the heavy cream and a pinch of salt. Process until you have a perfectly smooth purée.
In a wide skillet, melt the butter. If using the shallots, sauté them gently for a minute or two. Add the asparagus purée and let it simmer for just a few minutes, until it has warmed and slightly reduced. Turn off the heat.
Sauté the asparagus tips with a nut of butter and a pinch of salt, just long enough for them to absorb the butter and warm up. Do not let them brown. Add to the asparagus cream, reserving a few for garnish.
Cook and sauce the pasta
Boil your pasta in well salted water ntil al dente. (For extra flavor, use the same water you boiled the asparagus in, topped up if need be.)
For freshly made egg pasta, just let it come back to the boil. If your pasta has been rolled really thin, that should be enough. Otherwise, you can let it go for a minute or so, but no more. If using store-bought tagliatelle, follow the instructions on the box.
When the pasta is cooked, drain and transfer it to the skillet, along with a small ladleful of the pasta water.
Mix the pasta with the asparagus purée and tips over low heat. Let the pasta absorb the purée until it is well coated but slight quite slithery. You can add more water if things feel sticky.
Serve
Serve your tagliatelle alla crema di asparagi garnished with the reserved sautéed tips on top, either in individual warmed plates or in a communal bowl for the table. Have grated parmigiano on the side for those who like it.
Notes on tagliatelle alla crema di asparagi
The recipe, as you will have seen, involves a good number of steps but isn’t particularly hard to make. You do need to take some care, however, in choosing your ingredients, in particular the pasta.
Making or buying the tagliatelle
If you want to make the pasta yourself, as mentioned above, see our post on Making Fresh Egg Pasta for a step by step guide. This will always be your best choice for both taste and mouth feel, of course. But it obviously it means more time and effort. Budget perhaps another hour or so for allow for the time to make the dough, let it rest and rolling and cutting into tagliatelle.
If you’re buying your tagliatelle, your best option would be house-made fresh egg pasta from your local Italian deli or supermarket. Just try to make sure they are actually made with eggs. And, if possible, all or partially with soft wheat flour. Too many often stores will sell so-called fresh “tagliatelle” and “fettuccine” made with durum wheat (aka semolina) flour and water, just like dried commercial pasta. These pastas have a much less delicate texture than true egg pasta.
And then there are commercial fresh tagliatelle or fettuccine. Some are also fake but there are some good ones out there. Among the easier to find brands, I rather like Giovanni Rana. And finally, there are some fine dried egg pastas you can buy. My personal favorite brand is Bionaturae, which makes tagliatelle with a mouth feel and taste almost like homemade. The tagliatelle from Campofilone and De Cecco are also excellent.
What you want to avoid if you can are the commercial dried pastas called “tagliatelle” or “fettucine”. These names just describe the shapes. They are really just factory dried pastas in every other respect.
Choosing your asparagus
For making tagliatelle alla crema di asparagi, and most other dishes, I personally prefer the thin ‘pencil’ asparagus. They don’t need peeling and have a more delicate flavor than their thicker cousins. But of course you can make this dish with either variety.
Ideally, the ratio of asparagus to pasta by weight should be something around 1.5:1. But if you buy a bunch of asparagus and it’s slightly under or over the indicated weight, there’s no need to fuss.
Variations
If you can’t find proper tagliatelle or fettuccine, and don’t want to bother with making your own, the asparagus cream sauce is also very nice with short, stubby dried pastas like penne or, better yet, its little sisters, pennette. Frankly, I find this a better option that going with “fake” tagliatelle or fettuccine.
If you’re a carnivore, you could add some cured pork, in the form of pancetta, cooked ham or Speck, cut into dice and added to the butter to sauté before the asparagus cream along with the shallots if using.
For a lighter pasta agli asparagi, you can forego the purée and simply sauté chopped cooked asparagus in butter, then toss with the boiled pasta and grated parmigiano. It’s also wonderful, and even easier than this recipe.
Tagliatelle alla crema di asparagi (Tagliatelle with Asparagus Purée)
Ingredients
- 300-400 g (11-14 oz) tagliatelle either homemade or store-bought
For the sauce:
- 500 g (1 lb) fresh asparagus (more or less)
- 250 ml (1 cup) of heavy cream
- 50 g (2 oz) butter
- Salt
- 1-2 shallots optional
- Grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Instructions
Prepare your pasta (optional)
- If making your own fresh egg pasta: preparing the dough following the instructions in this post, then roll it out very thin (setting 3 on my KitchenAid attachment) and cut it into strips about 6mm (1/4 inch) wide using the fettuccine/tagliatelle cutter attachment of your pasta machine.
Prep and cook your asparagus
- Trim and (if using fat asparagus, peel) your asparagus spears.
- Boil the asparagus in well-salted water until it is perfectly tender (not crisp-tender), about 5-6 minutes for thin asparagus, 7-8 for the thicker variety. (Test for doneness with a paring knife.) Drain, refresh under cold water and pat dry.
Make the sauce
- Cut off the tips of your cooked asparagus and set them aside. Cut the rest into lengths and place into a food processor or blender with the heavy cream and a pinch of salt. Process until you have a perfectly smooth purée.
- In a wide skillet, melt the butter. If using the shallots, sauté them gently for a minute or two. Add the asparagus purée and let it simmer for just a few minutes, until it has warmed and slightly reduced. Turn off the heat.
- Sauté the asparagus tips with a nut of butter and a pinch of salt, just long enough for them to absorb the butter and warm up. Do not let them brown. Add to the asparagus cream, reserving a few for garnish.
Cook and sauce the pasta
- Boil your pasta in well salted water ntil al dente. (For extra flavor, use the same water you boiled the asparagus in, topped up if need be.)
- For freshly made egg pasta, just let it come back to the boil. If your pasta has been rolled really thin, that should be enough. Otherwise, you can let it go for a minute or so, but no more. If using store-bought tagliatelle, follow the instructions on the box.
- When the pasta is cooked, drain and transfer it to the skillet, along with a small ladleful of the pasta water.
- Mix the pasta with the asparagus purée and tips over low heat. Let the pasta absorb the purée until it is well coated but slight quite slithery. You can add more water if things feel sticky.
Serve
- Serve your tagliatelle alla crema di asparagi garnished with the reserved sautéed tips on top, either in individual warmed plates or in a communal bowl for the table. Have grated parmigiano-reggiano on the side for those who like it.
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gosh, tempting – even if asparagus are still rather expensive here (12.45 euros/kg) …on the other hand, I have just read your asparagus lasagna e that is equally a corker… mumble mumble…
You had me at asparagus cream sauce here, Frank! I know you can find asparagus year round, but it really is best this time of the year. I love creamy sauces on pasta, so I definitely need to try this one soon. I’ll watch for that thin asparagus to show up soon!
There’s something so wrong about eating asparagus in winter… So I wait for the real stuff. Hope you like this one, David. I think it’s a winner.
I made fresh pasta using lemon juice, which I know would be a perfect match for this sauce!
Wonderful, so glad you liked it, Tandy!
This recipe made me break one of my rules and buy asparagus before its season where I live. It was well worth it 🙂
I’m glad you did, Vitali. And also glad you enjoyed it!
Another classic! I will have to make this, asparagus is in the shops here in Barcelona, along with artichokes and huge broad beans.
Excellent! Hope you like it. What a wonderful time of year to be cooking, isn’t it? ?
I’m not a pasta eater, but the asparagus and the sauce sound very tempting Frank!
cheers
Sherry
If you eat rice, the same purée works wonders in risotto.
This is fabulous. Great recipe!
Thanks, Mimi!
The pasta is gorgeous and sounds delicious, and it definitely evokes Spring!
Thanks so much, Barb!
Absolutely delightful and not a way I have ever eaten my beloved asparagus! Being somewhat of a ‘health nut’ cream usually is not on my agenda but then I don’t have to indulge every day 🙂 ! Well, living where I do, there is a bit of a wait for spring and asparagus to arrive . . . but the recipe will be waiting 🙂 !
Well, if you’re an asparagus lover, then you’ll enjoy this pasta for sure. But I guess you’ll need to arm yourself with patience..
Buona Primavera Frank! I’m so looking forward to our upcoming local asparagus season…there is absolutely nothing like having access to a Farmer’s Market! And…looking forward, with great anticipation, to cooking with them! And of course this will mean pasta!
Nothing like asparagus from the farm, Eleanor! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Such a simple yet perfect spring dish!!
So true, Angie. Thaniks for stopping by!
Hello Frank, I was wondering if you happen to remember roughly how big the bunches of asparagus you used were by weight? No worries if not. Thanks again for your artful work which I love greatly.
I’m afraid that after all this time I don’t remember exactly! No worries, the precise weight shouldn’t matter terribly much. Anyway thanks for your kind words.
Judah, if you’re still there…. I’ve updated the recipe to include more specific info about the amount of asparagus.
Hey Frank! Omg! I made this pasta dish last night for dinner and it was absolutely delicious! Who would ever think to puree the asparagus? You! And thank you so much for that!
That’s awesome, Lydia! So glad you liked it. :–)
So beautiful! I love the tip where you wrote to boil the pasta in the asparagus water! Looks delicious , I love asparagus!
I love the idea of pureeing the asparagus with cream and topping with the tips…perfect for spring.
Frank, this looks delicious! Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables, cold or hot. This is a dish I’ve got to try. YUM!!!
I wanted to also ask you, how do you get your recipes in cookeatshare to show up directly from your website instead of the regular recipe page? I’ve asked cookeatshare, but they never replied. Thanks.
Hi Frank – my oh my this sounds so delicious. YAY for Spring cooking. Love the color!
LL
I love asparagus too. I have made asparagus risotto but never pasta. Nice idea: I must try it. I saw the first fava beans of the season yesterday, but I think they were a bit too early. On the other hand, I confess to have already bought a whole bunch of strawberries 😉
The warm sun has yet to arrive here in the Midwest, but this dish does look like a perfect spring dish. I admit that I may be partial to the parmigiano version, but will take your advice and at least once try it with the butter and cream!
wow ! Che bel piatto Frank, c’è tutta la primavera dentro ! Buona settimana, un abbraccio !
I just threw all my asparagus in a springtime minnestrone. With asparagus being the only green I see these days, I am liking this. And if it ever stops snowing, I am getting more asparagus (and artichokes) and doing all.
Yes, it sure is heartening to see those green shoots spring up from the soil. I’m with you on not being sure which I like better – asparagus or artichokes. But I do not I love what you’ve done with this pasta dish – the puree of asparagus really adds so much flavor.
Yumza! Grazi
Frank = fast & easy! I had 2 bunches of asparagus & didn’t know what to do with them = mi è piaciuto molto – did I say GRAZI ?
Frank, this sounds delightful. I too delight in seeing the tiny new vegetables at this time of year. I always go for the asparagus. Thanks for a lovely dish.
Oh, my gosh, Frank! I love asparagus so much and this looks like an amazing way to have it! Thanks!