Shrimp and Asparagus Pasta

There really is no food that screams “spring”! louder than the fresh, tender asparagus spears that come out of the ground in March and April. I know some people who make note of where wild asparagus fields are growing and mark the onset of warmer weather by harvesting their own shoots. As a California native and city dweller, I harvest my asparagus at a nearby grocery store, but the arrival of row upon row of bundled spears is still a sign that the seasons are changing.

While there are many ways to enjoy your springtime asparagus, one of my favorites is to pair it with shrimp in an easy, weekday-friendly pasta dish. The sweet, vegetal profile of the asparagus complements the slightly sweet flavor of the shrimp, and both ingredients share a similarly delicate yet savory texture.

With very little effort, you’ll have a perfect, seasonal meal that’s pretty enough for company and flavorful enough for everyone in the family to enjoy.

How to choose your shrimp

Shrimp are sold in a variety of ways. Typically, in large Asian grocery stores with a really good fish counter, you’ll find everything from live shrimp swimming head-on in a tank to bags of pre-peeled shrimp in the freezer.

And then there’s the issue of size; These delicious crustaceans come in a variety of sizes, from the “super colossal” monsters big enough to stuff, to the “tiny” or “baby” shrimp.

While some purists will tell you that if you want the best flavor and texture, you really need to buy shrimp direct, for this recipe it’s not necessary at all. Finally, instead of carefully preparing them for sushi, we toss them in a pan and stir them.

The best shrimp for this recipe are “medium” or “large” pre-peeled, deveined shrimp labeled “21/25” from the freezer. Shrimp of this size cook in exactly the same time as the asparagus, so you can cook the two ingredients together, making this recipe extremely convenient.

It’s worth noting that these pre-made shrimp still have their tails. These pieces are inedible, but form the classic shape you see in most shrimp dishes and should be left to be removed as you eat.

My only caveat when buying shrimp is that you should always look at where the shrimp was caught – I usually buy shrimp caught in North America or Mexico.

Thaw your shrimp an hour or two before you plan to use them by placing them in a colander, then rinsing them with cold water when they’re thawed. You can also run some cold water over it to speed up the process.

Prepare your asparagus

I cut the ends of my asparagus the way my mother taught me when I was a child: I hold the cut end in my right hand and the center of the stalk in my left, and bend the stalk until it breaks. It’s a common trick and it works well. When asparagus is bent slightly, it will naturally break off where the stalk transitions from fibrous to tender. Of course, this means your spears will all be different lengths, but that doesn’t matter in this recipe because you’ll be cutting them into 1-inch pieces anyway.

The cook times in this recipe work for medium-sized spears, whether they’re on the thin side of medium or the thick side. If your asparagus is very, very thin, wait a few minutes before adding it to the shrimp in the pan. Or, if your stems are very thick, you can halve them lengthwise or cut steeply diagonally when slicing.

Make the most of your time

This recipe is designed so that you can cook the shrimp, asparagus, and their sauce while the pasta cooks. The spaghetti (which cooks until slightly firm than al dente) is then added to the pan to finish cooking right in the sauce, allowing it to absorb the flavors of the wine, lemon and spices.

The following recipe calls for a casserole to hold all of the ingredients. But if you have a really big pan, that works too and allows you to spread out the shrimp so that all the pieces can sear at the same time.

Most brands of spaghetti typically take 9 to 12 minutes to cook. That’s pretty much the same amount of time you’ll need for the rest of the dish. That means if the pasta is done before the other ingredients are done, there’s no need to worry. Simply dip a liquid measuring cup into the pasta pot to reserve a cup of pasta water (for adding to the sauce), then drain the pasta. It will still be very hot when the sauce is ready.

serving suggestions

Because this dish contains starch, protein, and veggies, you can really serve it just like that, without anything on the side. However, a light butter salad goes well with this main dish.

If you’ve gotten the urge to serve this dish to guests for lunch, you can even bring other seasonal veggies to the table with a spring vegetable salad with mint pesto. And if you want a heartier meal, make the Easiest Garlic Bread Ever while you wait for your water to boil. A glass of the same white wine you use in the sauce is also a perfect and no-fuss accompaniment.