This is one of those light, simple throw-together pasta dishes that is just perfect for Spring. I can’t get enough of sweet tangy meyer lemons right now, but that’s okay because I actually have a lemon tree in my yard! Lemon pasta for everyone!
This dish also is really great cold—maybe even better? I made it the other afternoon, stuck it in the fridge and ate it later while I was working at the studio. Normally, I’m not a huge asparagus fan but I just had to pick some up from the store this week because, well, look at the size of ‘em!!
But, like I was saying, I’m normally not a huge fan. But when sliced, blanched and tossed in this yummy pasta along with olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, sundried tomatoes and Parmesan cheese? Well yes sir, I think I shall.
Methinks this dish would also be quite nice alongside a grilled chicken breast or some salmon. Now pour yourself a glass of buttery chardonnay and you’re set! Amen.
Meyer Lemon Spaghetti with Asparagus
serves 4
Ingredients:
8 oz linguine pasta
2 T extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you like it!)
juice of two large meyer lemons to equal about 1/2 cup
1 bunch asparagus, sliced
1/2 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
pinch of salt and pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
fresh parsley for serving
Directions:
Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until done. When pasta is done, remove noodles with a slotted spoon, reserving boiling water. Blanch asparagus in water for thirty seconds, until bright green. Drain and reserve 1/2 cup of cooking liquid.
Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and saute for thirty seconds. Remove from the heat. Add the pasta, sundried tomatoes and asparagus to the pan and toss everything together. Pour in the lemon juice along with additional cooking water if the dish seems too dry. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the Parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley.
Time:
20 minutes
{ 78 comments… read them below or add one }
A lemon tree in your yard?! So jealous
All I have is a concrete balcony with some sad looking basil and rosemary haha….I am making this dish for dinner tonight, it’s PERFECT.
i absolutely love the flavor of lemon with pasta – match made in heaven!
Wow this sounds like such a wonderful and light spring dish! I never think to use lemon and asparagus with pasta, but what a great idea!
this looks delicious! I love the combination of lemon and pasta. Do Meyer lemons taste different than regular lemons in this dish?
Love simple recipes like this! And I”m so jealous of your lemon tree!
Everyone I know in San Diego has a lemon tree so I have more little lemons, meyer lemons, regular ones…that are all free…than I know what to do with. An awful problem to have, I realize
I love asparagus and I bet this recipe just rocks. Love simple, easy, “clean”, fresh recipes this time of year, too!
Mmm – I make a recipe similar to this and the simple flavors are SO satisfying. Your pictures look wonderful! And a lemon tree in your backyard?! Amazing!
I’m just imagining how fresh this pasta must taste! Asparagus has been on sale lately, I’m going to get some!!
This looks so very simple and really delicious
I truly love spaghetti with lemon. Probably one of my favorites
This looks delicious
This sounds delicious, and so refreshing and spring-y! You’re so lucky you’ve got a lemon tree! I remember a couple of summers ago my family went to Australia to visit some friends, and so many people there have orange and lemon trees in their gardens. There is so much fruit they pretty much just let it fall to the ground!!
Looks heavenly! Welcome, Spring!
I’m a huge fan of Meyer lemons–they’re so gorgeous!
This just seems like the perfect summer dish!
Jealousy doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about you having a lemon tree in your yard.
oh heaven in a plate! i love the tanginess of lemon in pasta.
Actually, asparagus is my all time favorite vegetable! This looks great. I’m the queen of clean spring pastas and I think this will make a great addition to my repertoire. Thanks, Jenna!
I’m sitting at my desk with pictures of beaches and summertime on the wall facing me and now you tell me that you have a lemon tree in your backyard. I’m seriously starting to think that Chicago might not be the right place for me anymore…
LEMON TREE! that is just needed to be shouted.
Too funny…. I almost made this and then decided to make Meyer Lemon Risotto with Asparagus and on the side I made Oven Roasted Romas! Flavor win
. Meyer Lemons simply cannot be beat! I found some all the way here in NY and decided to splurdge. I made over 4 dishes with them this weekend! One is a yummy tart with an almond crust…recipe will be coming soon! Nothing says Spring quite like a fresh lemon. Happy Monday!
This sounds amazing! Heading over to your blog to see the dessert – please tell me it’s posted!?
I am so jealous of the lemon tree in your backyard. My roommate is from Napa and I tell her all the time that I might move to California so that I can grow lemons in my backyard instead of paying 75 cents each!
Do you like roasted asparagus? I think that’s by far the best way to eat it
Roasted with salt, pepper, and almond slices…mmmm
And I’m way jealous of your lemon tree
I wish it was Spring! It’s 30 degrees in NYC!
Looks good!! This is one of my favorite meals to make!
Nothing says springtime like lemon and asparagus! I actually make a similar versinon of this dish using cheese tortelini. So good!
I love lemon pasta. I make a super simple one kind of like that–but instead of asparagus, garlic, and sundried tomatoes I add capers. It tastes so fresh with the lemon.
This looks so fresh and yummy! I’m trying to stay away from grains, but I’ll bet you this would be really good as a salad by replacing the pasta with beans…maybe white or garbanzo? Thanks for the inspiration!
p.s. I’m so jealous of the lemon tree in the backyard – lucky you!
I dream of one day owning lemon trees! One of the many reasons I must live in California for at least some part of my life. Looks refreshing, Jenna!
What a delightfully spring dish! Now, if you could just make it warm up here in VA, I’d really appreciate it
So simple! And I am totally jealous of your lemon tree!!
Ooh, this looks so delicious! Recipes like this make me really, really excited for spring and summer…I love these light, refreshing dishes with lots of citrus. And I am also very jealous of your lemon tree! Want to send some lemons to (still) snowy Minnesota?
Dishes like this are so full of flavor and simplicity. Love them! When I was visiting friends in California last summer they had a lemon tree in their yard and I’ve since made it my life goal to have one as well
Oooh Jenna, I am sooo jealous of your lemon tree right now. Living where I do it’s not an option, but maybe a girl can dream? This recipe looks like a keeper. Thanks for sharing it!
This sounds so refreshing and springy!
And tomorrow night’s dinner has just been decided! Love how easy it is! I might go wild and add some black olives and top w a fried egg for some protein!
Great pasta dish for spring!
I LOVE steamed asparagus and it’s been forever since I’ve had it. Great pasta recipe, and love the idea of a lemon flavor pairing.
yum! I threw together a dish very similar to this a few days ago…and “mmm-ed” my way through every bite.
Lemon tree in your yard? Completely unfair.
love,
cathy b.
I’m making this tonight, but I may sub broccoli for asparagus and add chickpeas for some extra protein
I’m alone this week while the husband is at a conference upstate—looks like I’ll be making this because I still have yet to go grocery shopping or write up a menu for myself. Looks delicious!
I would love a lemon tree, or peach tree, in my yard. Jealous woman here!
This dish screams spring! Delicious. And that’s so cool that you have a lemon tree in your yard.
i love lemon and pasta together, i bet you’re right, that this is even better cold. and maybe would be nice with some crumbly goat cheese:)
Asparagus is one of those things that I feel like I should like…but I don’t really. I think I’ve had too many bad experiences with it being stringy or cooked to mush!
Gorgeous, yummy spring dinner!
YUM! This looks like a perfect bright and crisp spring meal. And how cool that you have a meyer lemon tree in your back yard!
I am a huge fan of meyer lemons (even have a tree on the back porch too – YAY!) … this recipe sounds right up my alley! It’s great when you only need one pan for such a great meal.
That looks so good!
That looks great! SO fresh and perfect for spring!
This looks so tasty, and I love the lemon idea. Great recipe. I’m excited to try!
What a beautiful, bright springtime pasta dish.
I swear anytime you photograph lemons the pictures turn out stunning!
First of all, I am very jealous that you have a lemon tree in your yard! Second of all, this looks so good. I probably make a little too many dishes with lemon, but it is just sooooooo tasty!
This is going on the grocery list for the week.
This is whats for dinner tomorrow night!
Add a little creme fraiche to that and your set! I love lemon with pasta. We do it at least once a week!
This looks so fresh and tasty. Beautiful recipe. Yum!
I dunno, what I do I can’t get myself to date Sir Aspara as alluring as he might look sometimes! He’s such a jerk!
i have been sitting here trying to think of something for dinner and stopped by to see what you are making. this is it tonight! yum!
looks yummy! my husband doesn’t like asparagus but maybe this will be the dish that brings him over to the dark side
Bookmarked this recipe! Your passion for food and cooking truly shines through on your blog – gorgeous photos and every recipe I have tried has been delicious. You have talent!
This is totally my kind of dish. I adore meyer lemons – is there anything better? Seriously, there isn’t. & I love asparagus too. A great combination. This looks beautiful!
Heidi xo
I love how simple, but delicious this recipe is. Love your photos as always!
As soon as I saw this post this morning I knew I had to make this tonight for dinner for my parents! I added shrimp and used broccoli instead of asparagus, it was delicious
That looks so refreshing and delicious!
Yum! I am definitely adding this to my list of dinners for next week!
when I was little we had a lemon tree in our frontyard and every year my Grandma would have me pick them all then she would juice them and freeze them in ice cube trays so that we could have fresh lemonade all year long. I loved sucking on the frozen lemon juice cubes though!
I love how easy this is! Some brown rice or buckwheat pasta will be my substitute! Can’t wait to try this.
Ooh, this looks good! How can you not be a fan of asparagus though? Have you tried roasting it? I promise it’s good when it gets a bit crispy!
YUM!!! I made this for Sunday dinner, served with some roasted salmon with garlic and rosemary. It was such a good meal. I couldn’t find meyer lemons at our local market, so just used plain old ordinary ones. I also just added the asparagus right in with the pasta then drained them together. I did make it over to Whole Foods yesterday and found some meyer leomns, as I’ll definitely be making this again. Thak you!
I’m a new reader here – and am addicted
Oh yes, yes, yes. Lemon pasta is heaven in a bowl. I think I could write an entire week (month?) of posts about lemon recipes.
Jenna,
I just made this tonight! Added some red chard, spinach & onion to the mix. Thank you for a DELISH recipe (my chef bf gave it a 10:) )
Tried this for dinner tonight, sooo good! Thanks for the idea!
This spaghetti looks so refreshing and light. Perfect for spring.
Oh, can someone pleeeease do a Meyer Lemon give-away? I cannot find them to save my life on the East Coast and would LOVE to get some.
Fantastic photos! YUM! (btw, I loved that you amen-ed your post! must be delish!)
This looks fabulous – must try on my next “date night.”
I made this for a few friends last night and we all loved it! I’ll definitely be making it again. I tasted it as I was cooking and it was really good before adding the parmesan cheese too. I’m also thinking of trying it with fresh tomatoes. Delicious, thanks for the recipe! Can’t wait to try more of them.
Made this last night, and it was AWESOME!! So simple, too! This is definitely getting added to the regular rotation around here. And you’re right – it IS delicious cold, too!
I LOVE this meal! It is quick and tastes GREAT! The second time I made it I skipped the sundried tomatoes and added zuccini and spinach!
Just wanted to let you know, Jenna – I made this last night for my family and my grandmother deemed it so delicious, she is now asking that I make it in large quantities for her 85th birthday party! Success!
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