Creamy Asparagus and Peas Pasta

Wow - I am honored to be the first review and first picture of this recipe. This is a taste of Spring. Please excuse the long review. This is a keeper for sure and very forgiving. First, use either 1/2 lb pasta or double the sauce. If you can get fresh peas you are blessed. (I did manage to score fresh peas) If you don't have fresh peas, use frozen but do not blanch them with the asparagus. Which brings me to blanching. I brought a large pot of water to a boil - added salt and added the peas - scooped them out and into ice water - then added the asparagus except for the tips - cooked those to bright green and into the cold water. Cook the pasta in the same water that was used to blanch the vegetables. I cooked the bacon - removed and de-glazed the pan with the lemon juice - which wasn't enough so I added 1/4 cup white wine to de-glaze (you could also use pasta water or more lemon juice or both) I did not add the bacon back in as I don't like soggy bacon. Add the vegetables and the tips of the asparagus. Add the cooked pasta - straight from the pot with some of the pasta water. Add the cream - then add the bacon just before serving. Delicious!

This was good and would make it again! I didn't blanch the veggies - added the stem pieces with the onion along with some garlic and lemon zest to up the lemon flavor, and then added the tips and peas near end just to eat through. I also followed bn's advice and added the bacon at the end so it stayed crisp. For company, I'd blanch the stem pieces to keep them greener.

Recipe Group Selection: 03, March '12 We enjoyed the ingredients in this pasta dish, but it lacked flavor. We thought it needed more of the sauce and maybe a few more spices. We are having the leftovers tonight and I'm going to make a light fettuccine sauce to add the creaminess that we feel is missing. Might also add some red pepper flakes. I added the bacon right at the end to ensure it's crunchiness. Not a fan of soggy bacon. I think this dish has great potential, as the ingredients are very good, but for us, I need to play with the sauce a little bit.

I made this for Recipe Group and I guess I'm in the minority here, but while this was ok, it wasn't great for us...I ended up roasting my asparagus b/c we love it that way. I used more of everything called for, but felt that it still lacked in the flavor department. I did add in some parm. cheese, which made it a little tastier. I also used bowtie pasta in place of the fettuccine. I don't know, for us it was just bland. I'm still glad I got to try this recipe...Thanks for sharing.

Recipe Group selection 3/3/12. I omitted the bacon so we could eat this on Friday in Lent, so I knew I needed to add a bit of flavor back in. I did this by sauteing my peas and asparagus in EVO with my onion and 3 minced cloves of garlic. When my pasta was almost ready, I added the cheese and cream to the veggies and stirred til evenly melted. I felt it needed more cream so all in all I probably used about 1/2 cup of cream. I stirred the pasta into this and tossed to combine and served with shaved parmesan and freshly ground pepper on top. We never missed the bacon. Thanks, this is a keeper.

This was quite good- I made it for Recipe Group. I did need to make a few changes, based on what I had. I did not have fresh pasta, so I used dried, and frozen peas instead of fresh. Also, I didn't want to buy heavy cream just for 3 T so I used a little sour cream instead. This was very good. I simply sauteed the veggies in the bacon fat rather than boiling, and I think that really added great flavor. I think the heavy cream would have been much better, but we really enjoyed it this way too. Thanks for sharing!

We all liked this - especially my 2 year old. I only used 1/2 lb of fettuccine & asparagus but put a lot more cream in the sauce (next time I want to try using some of the pasta water instead of extra cream to save on calories & make it a little less rich). I used parm + mozzarella (next time I will only use parm - the mozz made it stringy). I also omitted the peas. I cooked the bacon in the microwave (a couple extra pieces of bacon wouldn't have hurt ;) & sauteed the veggies in 2 tbsp of butter. I was worried about the asparagus since it was still pretty raw after 5 min boiling (which I then put in a bowl of ice water). But I just made sure to saute it long enough with the onions (I also added a fresh minced clove of garlic right before adding the cream). Very simple & relatively quick dinner.

Pretty good starter recipe. I had cooked spaghetti and cooked bacon on hand, so I crisped up the bacon, removed it, sauteed the onions, some garlic and the asparagus in the grease, added a chopped tomato, seasoned it all with salt and pepper and let it wilt. I squeezed lemon in. When the veggies were ready, I added maybe a 1/3 cup of sour cream (I didn't have any whipping cream), a 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan and the noodles, let it all warm through. Pretty darn good and quick for a weeknight.

Delish....as for Marybeths link , it is incorrect.

Very yummy, I will make it again! I used whole grain angel hair pasta, and ham because I didn't have fettuccine noodles or bacon, also used frozen peas....quick and tasty work night dinner.

Really liked this. I didn't blanch the veggies- only cooked in the saucepan. Also, I had 3 tomatoes to use up so I threw them in. This Resulted in a yummy tomato cream sauce.

Basic side dish that didn't offer much of a blended taste of ingrediants. I used turkey bacon which at times I think helps some dishes in its own way but it didn't here. The parmesan gave it the most flavor, as I always add a tad more. I used frozen peas and did not blanch with the asparagus. I preferred doing each veggie on its own. Wont make again.

We loved this pasta dish, I made some changes and added things. I used bow pasta instead of fettuccine, I added artichoke hearts and dry sweet sun dried tomatoes. I didn't have the Italian cheese blend so I used a strong white cheese. My husband said it was the best pasta I have made and we eat a lot of different recipes

I can't remember is I've reviewed this dish or not, as I have made similar ones. But...this needs more cream.

Needs more of a sauce

This pasta dish doesn't have all the sauce that most of my pasta dishes have but it worked. We really loved all the veggies in it. I didn't have fresh peas so I used frozen, don't think it made a difference. I also doubled the whipping cream, could have added even more. I had read from many of the other comments about not having much flavor and I have to say I thought it did have the flavor. However, I have to say I didn't pour out the bacon grease because of this and cooked the onions in it. I think the bacon drippings really gave it that extra flavor it needed. I also did as some mentioned about cooking the pasta in the water I used for the asparagus. Hint, save some of this so you can use it at the end if you need more liquid in the dish.