Having eaten rich foods over the holidays, I wanted to eat something lighter (without raiding my birds’ seed mixture).
Up here in Canada, we’ve been getting some decent produce from South America (primarily Chile), due to it’s growing season being the opposite of Canada’s.
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve noticed some decent and affordable asparagus in the market and I’ve enjoyed them in fritattas, as a side veggie dish and today, in pasta.
This dish is light, has no cheese and is refreshing with the aroma of lemon zest and the zing of paprika and chile flakes.
I also find that many of the best pasta dishes are the simple, quick ones where the sauce is ready in the time it takes for the pasta to be cooked. This spaghetti dish is one of those simple delights.
Spaghetti With Asparagus and Shrimp
(for tw0)
1 dozen shrimp, peeled and de-veined
salt
1 tsp of paprika
1 tsp. of chile flakes
1 dozen asparagus spears, wood parts trimmed and then cut into 1 inch pieces
1/3 cup olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 small red onion, diced
1/4 cup white wine (Chardonnay)
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 a lemon
some pasta water
2 handfuls of spaghetti
- Get a large pot of water boiling for your pasta. When the water begins to boil, add a generous amount of salt and cook your pasta according to the package’s instructions.
- In a bowl, toss your shrimp with some salt, paprika and chile flakes. Place a skillet on a burner on medium high-heat and pour in your olive oil. Add the shrimp and saute until they’ve just turned pink (about 2 minutes). Remove your shrimp with a slotted spoon and reserve.
- In the same skillet add your garlic, onions and asparagus and saute them on medium heat for about 5 minutes (or enough to soften).
- Add your wine and reduce until there’s barely any liquid left. Take the skillet off the heat and reserve (you may remove the garlic, if you wish).
- As soon as your spaghetti is cooked, reserve some pasta water and strain the spaghetti.
- Place you skillet back on the burner (heat off) and add your pasta, shrimp, zest and lemon juice and toss to coat the pasta with the remaining ingredients. Add some pasta water if the sauce is too dry.
- Serve with a nice Chardonnay.
Lovely. I had something very similar just last night but with some leftover crab and rocket.
Looks good, I would definitely put this on the light side but I wonder whether we are in the minority? I don’t think many people consider pasta to be light? I love the use of lemon and lemon zest.
Katerina, I would call it light in that there’s no red meat, no butter, no creams, no cheeses.
As for portion control, well…doesn’t exist with Italians & Greeks!
This is what I need to eat now: something light, not oily/greasee, with vegetables, with this tasty shrimps… just the perfect dish these days! I love it Peter!
Tomorrow it will be on my table!!!
Wow, it’s great and I agree with you Peter that it’s very light. 2 handfuls of spaghetti I guess will make 4 servings, so 1/3 cup of oil is the only thing that will add calories, and I think it’s reasonable if I’m right with the servings.
Looks fantastic. I love asaparagus in just about everything! This is just the type of light meal I am looking for.
This looks tasty. You cannot go wrong with shrimp and asparagus. I like the use of the lemon. I have also been enjoying the imported asparagus lately!
Peter, that looks really good. I love the combination of shrimp and asparagus.
looks so good, fresh and light.
The chilies and lemon would add their own special flavours to this dish… a littler tang a little zing…
Peter, the colors are beautiful and your food photo is stunningly vivid as always =D. I printed out the recipe because asparagus sounds perfect with Shrimp and spaghetti. I never thought of using white wine in a pasta dish like this so, of course, I am going to have to try this out. Hugs and happy cooking =)
Shandy@Pastry Heaven
2 asparagus dishes in a week – that’s just mean! I won’t see it again until March. But I’ll be ready….
Shrimp rules this weekend! So many of the blogs that I have visited this weekend are serving shrimp! Actually we had some on the grill and in a fish stew this weekend! Yum! And a perfect pairing in your pasta, asparagus!
oh … this looks simply divine.