Creamy Asparagus Carbonara – Easy Spring Pasta Recipe

I get a lot of emails from people who are into noodle rods. I totally get that because I find myself in a pasta train from time to time. Generally it is a red sauce rut. In spring I love to switch to light veggie pasta recipes like this Asparagus Carbonara recipe!

When there are really great vegetables (like asparagus) in stores and markets, I like to temporarily ban tomatoes from my pasta dishes. While this gives you a wide variety of cream sauces, if you want to stay on the light side, I recommend mastering (or at least trying) the carbonara method!

A good carbonara only needs a few ingredients and I always like to eat a seasonal vegetable. For this version I used asparagus and seasoned it with lots of garlic and lemon. It may look boring, but it’s actually packed with flavor.

Why asparagus carbonara is so good

Although there is no meat in this carbonara, the asparagus helps it feel rich enough without the normal addition of meat (typically bacon or guanciale for carbonara).

While carbonara looks like a cream sauce, it’s actually just eggs beaten into the pasta, making it lighter than you might think and the asparagus blending perfectly into the sauce.

When selecting asparagus for this recipe, I prefer the thinner asparagus over the thick asparagus, which I reserve for grilling.

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

There’s no need to overcomplicate a dish like this. Find good, fresh asparagus, bright lemons and garlic. That’s really all you need. Try to find the thinner spears of asparagus. The thicker ones need to be roasted or blanched, but the thin ones can be tossed in a pan and cook quickly.

Other ingredients you’ll need are parmesan cheese, eggs, some type of pasta (I like fettuccine), and condiments like black pepper and salt.

Boil the asparagus for the carbonara

Chop the bottom 1-2 inches off the stalks (the tough part), then chop into 2-inch pieces. For the garlic, simply cut into slices.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add a splash of oil. Then add the asparagus and cook the spears until they turn light green and become tender. Then add the garlic slices and cook for another minute or so. You don’t want to add the garlic too soon or it will just burn.

Towards the end, toss the vegetables with a little white wine to deglaze the pan and season with salt and pepper.

Scoop the spears and garlic out of the pan, but don’t worry about cleaning the pan. You can use it again to finish the dish.

Tricks for making a silky smooth carbonara

The sauce for a classic carbonara pasta is egg based! It can be difficult to work with. If you get it right, the eggs will create a light sauce on top of the pasta that will fold everything up. If you get it wrong, you get pasta and scrambled eggs. To be honest, I’ve screwed up carbonara many times over the years, and it’s still an edible dish. Just not quite as pretty as a perfect, silky smooth carbonara.

One trick I’ve used successfully over the years is to whisk the eggs with some parmesan (about a cup, but who measures?). Then stir in about 1/2 cup of hot pasta water. The pasta water will temper the eggs a bit (like making a pudding) and also lighten them so they don’t clump together as much when they hit the pasta.

Most importantly, whisk the eggs into the noodles off the heat. If you leave the pasta pan over the heat when you add the eggs they will most likely cook.

How to finish the carbonara

Speaking of pasta, I like to use fettuccine for this carbonara, but spaghetti would be fine too.

When the pasta is cooked, make sure you reserve about 2 cups of pasta water. Pasta water is really important to get the finished pasta to the right consistency.

When your pasta is drained, add it to the pan along with 1/4 cup pasta water. Add the asparagus and garlic and pour in the egg mixture with the heat turned off completely. Don’t worry, the pasta still has plenty of residual heat.

Throw this together like crazy to try to evenly coat the eggs as they heat.

If you get it right you’ll have a silky smooth sauce, but if you end up with a few bits of boiled egg in the sauce. Don’t worry about that. Your pasta is not ruined. It happens to the best of us. Just fold the eggs into the pasta with the veggies, trying to make them as smooth as possible.

Finally, beat the pasta with a little lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

If the pasta is very thick, add more pasta water to keep the sauce smooth. If it’s thin and watery, continue tossing it in the pan until it thickens a bit.

It might sound a bit tricky, but it turns out great even if you mess up the eggs a bit.

Most importantly, serve the pasta as soon as possible (cold eggs are no good). Garnish each bowl with plenty of grated parm and lemon zest!

What do you serve with asparagus carbonara?

There are many options for what you can serve with this carbonara, but you should also feel comfortable serving it on its own. It’s a great solo meal.

If you’re looking for a salad to serve with the pasta, try this Roasted Carrot Salad!

A great side dish is of course garlic bread. I like this baguette garlic bread.

And at this time of year, I like to serve pasta like this with a light salad like this Greek salad.

What variations/substitutions might work?

There are a number of variations of carbonara. Here are some ideas!

• To make the carbonara more traditional, add bacon or guanciale to the pan. Cook until crisp and then use this fat to sauté the asparagus.
• To thicken the sauce, add two additional egg yolks to the sauce and whisk together.
• Mix in some other cheeses like Pecorino Romano, which is common for carbonara.
• Change the vegetables according to the season. Fresh peas also work very well in this.

Here are a few other great recipes to try!