This asparagus pesto is super versatile, easy to make and bursting with flavour! The asparagus and garlic are roasted then combined with a handful of ingredients to make a delicious sauce that's perfect with pasta. Ready in only 30 minutes!
Why this recipe works
- It can be served as a dip or pasta sauce so it's great for entertaining as well as a family dinner.
- It's low in fat and nutritious.
- It's delicious, easy to make and ready in only 30 minutes.
Asparagus pesto ingredients
Apart from the asparagus and garlic I used the classic pesto ingredients including fresh basil and Parmigiano cheese (you can use another similar vegetarian variety). I used traditional pine nuts but blanched hazelnuts, almonds or sunflower seeds would work well too.
This sauce contains little oil and you can easily adjust the consistency using water.
If you like this recipe you might also like creamy avocado pesto pasta and roasted red pepper pasta.
How to prepare the asparagus
Asparagus is very easy to prepare. You can boil, fry and grill it but for this recipe I chose to roast it along with the garlic. Roasting is a great way of preparing vegetables. It really brings out their flavour and is also a very easy cooking method. (It worked really well also in my broccoli hummus, roasted cauliflower dip as well as roasted beetroot pasta).
To prepare the asparagus all you need to do is snap off the tough woody ends, which are approx. 2-3 cm long. Then just rinse the asparagus, pat dry, place on a baking sheet, brush with a little oil, season and roast in a preheated oven at 200 C for 15 minutes. (Place the garlic cloves on top of the sheet to roast alongside the asparagus).
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for a few minutes. In the meantime start boiling your pasta in salted water (reserve some of the pasta water).
How to choose the best tasting asparagus
For me the best tasting asparagus tends to be the thinner variety. The really thick asparagus is usually not as sweet. When buying this vegetable avoid wilted looking asparagus and choose bright green fresh looking, firm asparagus.
Assembling the recipe
Pesto recipes are usually very easy to put together and this one is no exception.
1.While you are waiting for the asparagus to cool toast the pine nuts. Place them in a small pan and dry toast briefly over a medium heat until golden stirring often (take care not to brown them too much). Remove from the pan immediately.
2. Chop the roasted asparagus, peel the garlic and place along with the other ingredients, including the remaining oil, (add only a bit of the water at this point) in a blender.
3. Pulse until the mixture starts coming together but still has texture. Do not puree until smooth. Season to taste.
3. Combine with the freshly cooked pasta and add more water if needed (use pasta water if you like) to create the consistency you want. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of pesto you might also like sun dried tomato pesto, caprese pesto pasta salad and pesto chicken pasta bake.
Expert tips and FAQs
- If you add only 3-5 tablespoons of water into the mixture this asparagus pesto can be enjoyed as a dip (tastes delicious with sun dried tomato soda bread). Add more water to turn it into a sauce if you prefer and serve with pasta.
- Start boiling the pasta when you are waiting for the asparagus to cool so that once the pesto sauce is ready you can combine it with the hot pasta.
- Reserve some of the pasta water to add later into the sauce if needed.
- What pasta to use: This sauce works with different pasta shapes including fusilli, penne, tagliatelle, spaghetti or bow tie pasta (farfalle). So use your favourite! I used about 300 g of raw pasta, enough for 4 people.
- Best served immediately. Any leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 1 day. After that the pesto may become prone to discoloration and will not taste as fresh.
- Not suitable for freezing.
You might also like
- Creamy Asparagus Mushroom Potato Casserole
- Roasted Eggplant Tomato Pasta Sauce (Vegan)
- Sun Dried Tomato Scones with Asparagus
- Grilled Asparagus Strawberry Mozzarella Salad
Check out also this collection of over 12 healthy vegetarian pasta meals.
Keep in touch
If you make this asparagus pesto recipe I'd love to know how it turned out for you. Did you serve it with pasta or enjoy as a dip? Let me know in the comments below, thanks!
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Roasted Asparagus Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 230 g asparagus weight after tough ends have been removed
- 20 g fresh basil leaves only, chopped
- 2 tbsp pine nuts or blanched hazelnuts, almonds or sunflower seeds
- 50 g Parmigiano-Romano cheese or similar, finely grated, ensure it's vegetarian
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1.5 tsp lemon juice
- Pasta of your choice enough for 4, reserve some of the pasta water to add into the sauce if needed
- 110 ml water add gradually
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F/ 200 C/ gas mark 6. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Prepare the asparagus by snapping off the tough woody ends, which are approx. 2-3 cm long. Then rinse the asparagus, pat dry, place on a baking sheet (along with the garlic), brush with a little oil, season and roast for 15 minutes.Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for a few minutes. In the meantime start boiling your pasta in salted water (reserve some of the pasta water).
- While you are waiting for the asparagus to cool toast the pine nuts. Place them in a small pan and dry toast briefly over a medium heat until golden stirring often (take care not to brown them too much). Remove from the pan immediately.
- Chop the roasted asparagus, peel the garlic and place along with the other ingredients, including the remaining oil, (add only a bit of the water at this point) in a blender. Pulse until the mixture starts coming together but still has texture. Do not puree until smooth. Season to taste.
- Combine with the freshly cooked pasta and add more water (use pasta water if you like) if needed to create the consistency you want. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you add only 3-5 tablespoons of water into the mixture this asparagus pesto can be enjoyed as a dip (tastes delicious with sun dried tomato soda bread). Add more water to turn it into a sauce if you prefer and serve with pasta.
- Start boiling the pasta when you are waiting for the asparagus to cool so that once the pesto sauce is ready you can combine it with the hot pasta.
- Reserve some of the pasta water to add later into the sauce if needed.
- What pasta to use: This sauce works with different pasta shapes including fusilli, penne, tagliatelle, spaghetti or bow tie pasta (farfalle). So use your favourite! I used about 300 g of raw pasta, enough for 4 people.
- Best served immediately. Any leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 1 day. After that the pesto may become prone to discoloration and will not taste as fresh.
- Not suitable for freezing.
- Nutritional information does not include the pasta.
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is automatically generated and should be considered as an estimate.
**A note about baking: If using a fan-assisted oven refer to your appliance's instructions and adjust the temperature accordingly.
This sounds absolutely delicious Monika, and I love how beautiful your images are of it too. What a great idea to vary your pesto and I'm also intregued that you used a bay leaf when cooking your pasta - I can imagine it brings another lovely flavour. pinning.
Angela x
Thank you Angela! I've developed a habit of cooking pasta and potatoes (especially if I am going to mash them) with a bay leaf, most of the time, it goes with most things I cook.
Oh my goodness - that looks amazing! we are big fans of asparagus here and are even growing our own now! Saved this one for later! Yum! Thanks for sharing x
Thank you! I envy you being able to grow your own vegetables, the best I can do at the moment is grow herbs:)
This looks great!
Thank you:)
This looks delicious! I love adding seasonal veggies to pasta
Thank you! Me too, whenever possible:)
This looks and sounds so delicious! I absolutely love the idea of using oregano in pesto. I will have to give that a try one day. Thanks for linking it up to #CookBlogShare 🙂 Eb x
Thanks Eb! I am spoiled for choice with herbs this year, have so many growing in my garden I'll have to make another pesto soon:)
I'll have to try using oregano in pesto. We have a pot growing in our garden but it's not a herb I tend to use a lot of. Not for any reason though so I'm sure I'll be using it in some pesto soon. Your dish looks beautifully fresh too!
Thank you! I never used to use a lot of oregano either but now I've got all these herbs growing in the garden I am finding all sorts of dishes for them. I don't know why we haven't planted the herbs earlier:)
Wow, this looks delicious. I love asparagus and pesto, Ive never put them together before... and now I don't know why! Oregano pesto sounds amazing. Oregano grows quite well in our garden so I will definitely whizz some up and try it.
Thank you! Fresh oregano is so delicious, I hope you like the recipe if you do try it:)
This entire dish sounds perfect Monika and I particularly like the sound of the pesto. I love experimenting with different herbs but I am yet to try oregano!
Thank you Mandy! We have so much oregano in our garden this year I just HAD to do this pesto, I think fresh oregano is really delicious:)
Oh some lovely ideas here Im sure the asparagus is going to go so well with oregano. Ive not used oregano before to make pesto but it now on my to do list
Thanks Jacqui! I am really enjoying my own herbs from the garden this year so there might be more pesto recipes soon:)
This sounds and looks delicious #cookblogshare
Thank you! Glad you like the recipe:)
I love hazelnuts in pesto but have never tried it paired with fresh oregano, it sounds great and the pasta looks so good 🙂
Thank you Petra! It's a good combination, everyone in the family really liked it:)
That is always a winner 🙂
This sounds delicious, love how green it is, perfect for spring cooking.
Thank you! It's very quick and easy to make too:)
Look so delicious!! 😉 Thank you for inspiration and sharing recipe 🙂
Thank you! Glad you like the recipe:)