It’s April 26th and it’s finally starting to feel like spring up here in the frozen Nord. Most of my snow is gone after a few days of 50-degree weather! And I’m feeling some spring-like food, like this Lemon Shrimp & Asparagus Pasta.
Lemon Shrimp & Asparagus Pasta
How about you? Are you down for an easy and elegant Lemon Shrimp with Pasta & Asparagus? This is a great dish for a warm evening on a deck, or maybe for a brunch or a killer Mother’s Day dish. The flavors are all so fresh and springlike; heck even the colors are echoing Spring!
About Lemon Shrimp & Asparagus Pasta:
You really can’t get much quicker or easier than this simple pasta dish. The prep is so quick – quick enough for Lemon Shrimp & Asparagus Pasta that you can start the water for the pasta and be finished when the pasta is ready. Start to finish in under 30. Gotta love that!
I love these fresh flavors of lemon, shrimp & asparagus combined so simply. Each plays off the next. I’m not the only one – when I was hosting Fiesta Friday last week (it’s a link party, where bloggers combine all their favorite posts of the week into one large page, check it out!) I came across a post from Kit of the Kittchen for a Lemon Parmesan Fettuccini.
I have food ADD. I’m always like, ooh, that’s a good idea, or ooh, look at that! I love my Lemon Shrimp & Asparagus Pasta and love the simple clean flavors, but when I had a bit leftover, I reheated it gently with a touch of cream and a few scrapings of Parmesan, which were ideas stolen from Kit and her fettuccini, It was like a whole makeover for my leftovers! Thanks, Kit for that idea!
Lemon Shrimp & Asparagus Pasta
How to save money on the Shrimp in Lemon Shrimp & Asparagus Pasta:
The big-ticket item in this recipe is no doubt the shrimp. I used a frozen shrimp and that’s an item I always buy on sale. Seafood will never be lower than through the Easter and Lent Sales and is usually a big sale item around the Christmas/New Year’s holidays and tada: Mother’s Day.
If you can buy your shrimp strategically and toss it in your freezer it’s like having your shrimp and eating it too. I used a peeled, frozen shrimp today and it was super fast to toss this dish together. My go-to shrimp is the easy peel. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator on paper towels and peel the next day. The shrimp aren’t usually as wet that way and the texture is so much better.
Don’t forget to check Aldi for frozen shrimp if you have one near you. too; they usually have wonderful prices and their prices often rival the best grocery store sales. I’ve used the shrimp very strategically in this recipe – the pasta and asparagus complement the shrimp so well you don’t need a lot of shrimp to make this dish special. Getting by with very little Shrimp is going to save you money, but there is still enough to make it feel special.
Lemon Shrimp & Asparagus Pasta
How to save money on the other ingredients in Lemon Shrimp & Asparagus Pasta:
Be flexible with the pasta you use; some types of pasta tend to have better sales prices than others. It’s a mystery why spaghetti might be on sale and fettucini not, sometimes. Watch the box sizes, too. The thicker pasta is sometimes 12 ounces instead of a whole pound, 16 ounces.
Check Aldi for the asparagus (I love their 20-ounce packages of asparagus) and don’t waste the ends. Peel than from the point you usually break the ends off and just cut a smidge from the very bottom. Andly wast can popped in your blender when you make your green smoothies & if you don’t use all of your asparagus, find some ideas under 25 ways to use leftover asparagus, links are below at the bottom of the page.
Lemon Shrimp & Asparagus Pasta
Lemon Shrimp & Asparagus Pasta
A lemony shrimp pasta dish that’s easy enough for a weeknight and elegant enough for a celebration.
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound fettuccine, linguine or spaghetti
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1/4 red onion, sliced thinly
- 1 large bunch asparagus (about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds), trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- salt and black pepper
- 1/2 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp (raw)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 lemon, zested, zest reserved. Cut lemon in half. Juice one half and cut the other half into quarters for serving.
Instructions
Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water when pasta is finished.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add red onion, asparagus, and red pepper along with 2 tablespoons water. Cover and steam for 2 to 3 minutes. Check to make sure the asparagus isn’t dry as you steam it. Uncover and cook until water is evaporated & asparagus is tender/crisp, about a minute or two longer. Remove asparagus and set aside.
Add the additional tablespoon of oil to the skillet. Add shrimp and cook until lightly browned on one side, turn and cook for about 30 seconds more until shrimp are just cooked through. Take the skillet off heat.
Add the asparagus back to the skillet, then add the drained pasta, butter, salt and pepper to taste, lemon zest and juice. Toss, adding the reserved water as needed.
Serve with the remaining lemon.
Notes
If there is any leftover, transform it by gently reheating. Add a little cream and Parmesan cheese.
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I’ll be bringing my Lemon Shrimp & Asparagus Pasta to Fiesta Friday #221, hosted this week by Jenni of Dragonfly Home Recipes. Stop by and take a peek, and if you’re a blogger, join in. We’d love to have you!
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