Shrimp Pasta Primavera

This simple shrimp pasta primavera uses a mix of spring vegetables including asparagus, sugar snap peas, garden peas and spring onions. It’s a celebration of the season!

When we lived in Southeast Asia, the only asparagus we got in our local grocery stores was quite thin but they won my asparagus hating husband over. Turns out he had only ever been offered canned asparagus as a child and thought they were nasty. 

Fresh asparagus are completely different! In the States and in Jersey, Channel Islands, the asparagus are typically thick. The husband was unsure again but I’ve gradually won him over, especially when I cook them simply with a little butter and lemon. Or in a pasta dish like this Shrimp Pasta Primavera. 

Shrimp Pasta Primavera

If using fresh pasta instead of dried, cook 12 oz or 340g to serve four people. Regarding the peas: I prefer the frozen peas called petit pois because they are young and more tender, if you can find them. Do not, for love of all that is holy, use canned peas. This recipe is adapted from one on New York Times Cooking. 

Ingredients

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus plenty extra for the pasta boiling water

Freshly ground black pepper, more as needed

5 1/3 oz or 150g sugar snap peas

8 oz or 226g asparagus, ends snapped

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup or 23g thinly sliced green onion, white part only

10 oz or 285g peeled, cleaned shrimp

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

9 oz or 255g fettuccine or tagliatelle

2/3 cup or 60g grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, at room temperature

1/2 cup or 123g crème fraîche or sub whole milk Greek yogurt, at room temperature

1 tablespoon finely chopped tarragon

3/4 cup or 113g frozen young peas, thawed

(To thaw the peas and cook them just enough at the same time, pour boiling water over them. When cool, drain the water and repeat. Drain again when cool and the peas are ready to add in at the end of the recipe.)

Optional garnish: tender pea sprouts

Method

Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil over medium-high heat.

While the water is coming to a boil, string and slice snap peas diagonally.

Trim the asparagus tips off, leaving them whole. Slice the asparagus stems into ¼-inch-thick lengths, also on the diagonal. 

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add snap peas, asparagus and green onions. 

Cook until the vegetables just start to soften, then add the shrimp. 

Cook for 3-4 minutes until the shrimp are pink throughout. 

Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute more. 

Season with the salt and a few generous grinds of black pepper; set aside.

Drop the pasta into boiling water and cook until al dente (1 to 3 minutes for fresh pasta, according to the manufacturer’s instructions for dried pasta.)

Drain well and transfer pasta to a large bowl. Immediately toss the pasta with the shrimp and vegetables. Mix well. 

Add in the Parmigiano-Reggiano, crème fraiche, tarragon and peas and stir well. 

Season generously with more salt and pepper, if needed.

Return to your warm pasta pot, garnish with pea sprouts, if using, and serve immediately.

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and since spring has sprung, we are sharing recipes with asparagus and I am hosting! Check out all the links below. 

• Asparagus Farro from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Asparagus Three Ways from Our Good Life
• Macaroni and Cheese with Asparagus and Prosciutto from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Shrimp Pasta Primavera from Food Lust People Love
• Spring Risotto Topped with Shaved Asparagus from Culinary Cam
• Stir Fried Chickpeas and Asparagus from Amy's Cooking Adventures

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Shrimp Pasta Primavera!

.

Roasted Asparagus Soup

Creamy and rich, this roasted asparagus soup is made with potatoes, celery and shallots. It's full of flavor, topped with sour cream and crispy prosciutto. 

I had a completely different plan for this post but when I saw the skinny little asparagus on offer at my local supermarket, I had to pivot. The little guys wouldn’t have made a great baked dish – my original intention - but I did think they would add a lot of flavor to a soup, especially if I roasted them.

And since I was preparing this as part of our New Year’s Eve menu, a dollop of sour cream and some leftover prosciutto from Christmas seemed like a good addition to fancy it up. 

Roasted Asparagus Soup

This recipe is adapted from one on Food52. It makes four servings. If you don't have white pepper, by all means sprinkle in some cayenne or black pepper. The soup won't be as purely green but taste matters more!

Ingredients 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 lb or 450g green asparagus, trimmed

2-3 pinches flakey sea salt

8 oz or 225g waxy potatoes (like Yukon golds)

1 stalk celery

1 clove garlic

1 small shallot

2 tablespoons butter

4 cups or almost 1 L chicken or vegetable stock

White pepper, to taste

Optional garnishes:

Sour cream

Prosciutto or bacon, fried till crispy with a drizzle of olive oil

Method

Heat the oven to 400°F or 200°F. Drizzle the asparagus with the olive oil, using a basting brush to make sure they are coated all over with the oil. 

Sprinkle with flakey sea salt then roast for 15 minutes. 

While the asparagus are roasting, peel and cut your potatoes in pieces. Mince the garlic and finely chop the celery. Thinly slice the shallot.

When the asparagus are done, leave them to cool a bit, then cut into pieces, setting aside 8 tips to use later for garnish when you serve. 

In a large pot that will hold all of your ingredients, melt the butter and cook the shallots, celery and garlic over a low heat, until soft.

Stir in the potatoes and stock. 

Turn up the heat, bring to a boil, then simmer, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the asparagus.

Process in a blender, in batches, or with a stick blender in the pot until smooth. 

I used a stick blender and noticed that some of the more fibrous bits of asparagus were getting caught on the blades. I decided, in the interest of making this a smooth soup, to strain it. I poured it through a small colander first and then put it through a fine strainer, mashed all of the liquid out and discarded the fibers. If you don’t mind the bits in your soup, you can skip this step. 

Season to taste with the salt and white pepper. 

Garnish each serving with a dollop of sour cream and a few crispy bits of prosciutto or bacon, if desired. Put two crossed asparagus tips on top of each serving.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year and here we go again, starting at A for the 2025 rendition of the Alphabet Challenge! Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the great A recipes in the links below. 

• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Aglio e Olio Pasta
• Sneha’s Recipe: Aloo Phulkopir Dalna 
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Apple Latkes 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Apples and Greens with Apple Vinaigrette 
• Blogghetti: Apple Pie Tacos 
• Magical Ingredients : Artichoke Baby Greens Dip 
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Avocado, Bean & Mango Salad 
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Creamy Parmesan Acini di Pepe with Potatoes 
• A Messy Kitchen: Dianna’s Almond Cake 
• Food Lust People Love: Roasted Asparagus Soup 

Pin this Roasted Asparagus Soup! 

 .

Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus with Garlicky Baked Brie

This Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus with Garlicky Baked Brie is a quick appetizer that is more than the sum of its parts! It looks fancy but is so easy.

When my husband and I first got married, there were three things he absolutely would not eat. Asparagus was one of them. As I questioned his aversion more closely, it turned out that the only asparagus he’d ever tried was from a can. Tinned, as he and the rest of his British contingent would say. 

Well, I had to agree with him on that front. My mom LOVED canned asparagus – could, in fact, make a quick meal of it when she’d get home from work, just opening a can, eating the asparagus and, I’m stifling a gag here, drinking the salty juice. 

So we always had canned asparagus in the pantry. Occasionally it would turn up on the dinner table, slimy and soft. Ugh. Definitely NOT my favorite thing.

But when I got older, I discovered fresh asparagus. What a revelation! Pan-fried, roasted or steamed till just done, still a bit crunchy, fresh asparagus was nothing like its canned/tinned relative. A third cousin, twice removed, if you will. Removed to far, far away, please. 

I introduced my husband to fresh asparagus and suddenly, we were down to two things he would not eat. Score! (In case anyone is wondering, the other two were olives and beets. He loves olives now too. After almost 38 years of wedded bliss, I’ve given up on ever getting him to like beets. He will tolerate the golden ones roasted but it's okay. The more for me.)

Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus with Garlicky Baked Brie 

As you can see from the photos, I have a small round baking dish that is expressly for the purpose of baking Brie or Camembert. If your dish is a bit larger, no worries. The Brie will still be delicious albeit a bit more spread out when it bakes. This recipe is inspired by one on deliciousmagazine.co.uk. 

N.B. This dish needs to be served right out of the oven. It can be assembled earlier in the day and kept refrigerated until ready for baking. Remove both pans from the fridge as you preheat your oven as not all oven-safe pans can go straight from chilled to a hot oven. 

Ingredients

1 round (8.8 oz or 250g) Brie 

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

Black pepper

2-3 sprigs fresh thyme, stems discarded

12 slices prosciutto or parma ham

12 asparagus spears, hard ends trimmed

Olive oil to drizzle

Optional to serve: Some crusty bread

Method

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C.

Carefully slice the top rind off of the Brie and put it in a small baking dish. (Discard the rind.) Spread the garlic and thyme leaves around then give the whole thing a couple of generous grinds of black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Wrap a prosciutto slice around each asparagus spear and put them in a baking pan. Do not crowd them. We want them to crisp up so they can’t be jammed in close together. Drizzle with a little olive oil.

Put both the asparagus pan and the Brie baking dish in your hot oven for 10-15 minutes or until the prosciutto is crisp and the Brie is golden and melted.

Serve immediately while the melted Brie is still hot so you can dip the asparagus in it! The Brie is also fabulous spread on crusty bread, if you are serving some alongside it. 

Enjoy! 

It's Sunday FunDay and have we got some great recipes for you! Many thanks to our host, Sue from Palatable Pastime and her chosen seasonal ingredient, asparagus! 

• Asparagus and Herbed Ricotta Tart from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Roasted Asparagus with Tangerine Gastrique from Palatable Pastime
• Asparagus Pesto from Sneha’s Recipe
• Quick Pickled Asparagus from Culinary Cam
• Asparagus with Lemon, Mint, and Red Peppers from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Asparagus Soup from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus with Garlicky Baked Brie from Food Lust People Love

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus with Garlicky Baked Brie!

.

Baked Cod with Asparagus Pesto

Baked Cod with Asparagus Pesto is delicious and pretty enough for company but simple enough for a weeknight family meal. The pesto adds loads of flavor while also protecting the cod from drying out as it bakes. Win-win!

We love asparagus, usually roasted or pan-fried with a little butter and lemon juice tossed in right at the end but when I heard that the theme of this week’s Sunday FunDay was pesto, I knew just what I wanted to make. 

I had seen the asparagus pesto recipe in an email from the New York Times Cooking section and had bookmarked it for “someday.” My only regret now is that it took me this long to get around to it. The pesto is so flavorful and you will have no regrets that it makes more than what you need to cover your cod in a nice thick layer. 

Ideas for leftover pesto: Stir the balance of the asparagus pesto through some cooked pasta, boiled potatoes or spread it on toasted slices of baguette and bake for a twist on bruschetta. Hum a couple of spoons in a jar and add a little more lemon juice and a splash of olive oil and water to make a rich vinaigrette. Pan fry shrimp and toss them in the asparagus pesto. I'm not kidding when I say that this stuff is good with almost everything. You might want to double the recipe. 

Baked Cod with Asparagus Pesto

This recipe was adapted from one by Mark Bittman in New York Times Cooking. It makes about 1 1/2 cups of pesto and you'll use perhaps a little more than half. See note above for what to do with the divine leftovers. 

Ingredients

For cooking the asparagus:

1 lb or 450g asparagus, hard ends trimmed

2 tablespoons olive oil

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

For completing the pesto:

1/3 cup or 50g pine nuts

1 clove garlic, or more to taste

3/4 cup or 67g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 small red chili pepper

1/4 cup or 60ml olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, to taste

Water  

For the cod:

4 cod fillets (about 1.1 lbs or 500g)

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil for pan

Method

Put the asparagus in a large baking pan in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Broil (or grill) for 5-7 minutes on high. Set a timer, by all means, but do not leave the asparagus unattended or it can go quickly from roasting to burning. Remove the asparagus from the oven and set it aside while you prepare the rest of the dish. 

Toast the pine nuts in a dry non-stick skillet until golden brown, shaking the pan occasionally so they toast evenly. Remove from the pan and set aside a tablespoon or so for garnish. 

Chop the asparagus roughly. Put the pieces in your food processor and use a rubber spatula to scrape any olive oil or asparagus juice left behind in the pan to add in as well. 

Add in the bigger pile of pine nuts along with the garlic, chili pepper and the olive oil. Whiz until well combined. 

Add in the Parmesan and lemon juice and pulse again. If the pesto is too thick you can thin it with a little water or more lemon juice, according to your taste. 

Season with a little sea salt, if needed, and freshly ground black pepper and whiz again.

If you aren’t ready to bake your cod yet, spoon the pesto into an airtight container and then drizzle the top with a little more olive oil and store it in the refrigerator. 

When you are ready to cook the cod, preheat the oven to 400° F or 200°C.

Dry the cod with paper towels and place it in a lightly oiled baking dish. 

Coat the tops of the fillets evenly with a nice thick layer of the asparagus pesto. 

You will have pesto leftover. Store it in the refrigerator with a little olive oil on top, covered with cling film.

Bake the cod for 11-12 minutes in your preheated oven or until it is firm to the touch and pesto is starting to lightly brown. Put it under the broiler (grill) for 2-3 minutes to finish it off and add a little more color. 

Sprinkle the tops with the reserved pine nuts to serve. If I had been thinking, I’d have reserved four asparagus tips for garnish as well. Next time! I can assure you that I’ll be making this again. It was that good!

Enjoy! 

As I mentioned above, it’s Sunday FunDay and we are celebrating with pesto recipes! Check out all the links below. Many thanks to our host Sue of Palatable Pastime and Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm  for her behind the scenes help. 

• Avocado Pesto Sandwich by Mayuri’s Jikoni 
• Baked Cod with Asparagus Pesto by Food Lust People Love 
• Basil Pesto With Almonds & Walnuts by Sneha's Recipe 
• Carrot Greens Pesto-Topped Roasted Salmon by Culinary Adventures with Camilla 
• Pesto Cavatappi with Meatballs by Amy’s Cooking Adventures 
• Spinach Pesto Pasta by A Day in the Life on the Farm 
• Swiss Chard and White Bean Soup with Basil Pesto by Karen’s Kitchen Stories 
• Vegan Mint Pesto by Sizzling Tastebuds

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Baked Cod with Asparagus Pesto!

 .