This Cheesy Lemon Asparagus Pasta will quickly become your go-to dinner. It’s extra cheese and so full of flavors to make your taste buds will sing. Tasty cavatappi pasta mixed with sauteed shallots, garlic, asparagus, cilantro and lemon. Then it’s quickly stirred with lots of cheese and baked in the oven until all the cheese is nicely melted.
I’m not going to admit how much of this deliciousness I ate, but let’s just say that I’m happy weather was still nice a couple of weeks ago when I made it. I really needed to go running…a few extra miles! It was just SO good, I couldn’t stop. Once I had that first bite white taking the pictures, that was it…I was a goner. I knew it was going to be good because it smelled amazing and I was taste testing while cooking but boy, I wasn’t prepared for the final result.
It’s the keep-eating-after-you’re-full kind of delicious and I may have. Afterwards, I plopped little man in the jogging stroller and went for a really long walk. But it was so worth it because the leftovers were even better the next day.
Lemon, cilantro and garlic pretty much infuse this pasta with fresh, bright flavors. Slightly sweet browned onions and crisp from asparagus makes every bite of pasta heavenly. In addition, it’s all covered in ooey-gooey, melted cheese. Simple pasta dinner doesn’t get any better!
Extra Cheesy Lemon Asparagus Pasta Skillet
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb dry cavatappi pasta or other thick pasta of your choice
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 large shallots thinly sliced
- 4 oz asparagus chopped
- 3 loves of garlic thinly sliced
- Zest from 1 large lemon
- 3 Tbsp fresh minced cilantro
- Salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 oz grated Asiago cheese topping
- Olive oil drizzle about a tablespoon
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to the package and set aside.
- Chop asparagus into about 3 inch pieces. Slice shallots and garlic thinly.
- Preheat a 12-inch cast iron skillet (or another oven-safe skillet) over medium-high heat. Add oil.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Add onions and saute until transparent.
- Add garlic and asparagus and saute until onions brown.
- Stir in pasta and let it heat through.
- Stir in lemon zest and cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste. Take off heat.
- Stir in shredded mozzarella and make sure it's spread throughout as even as possible.
- Grate some Asiago on top and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil.
- Bake for about 10 minutes, until all the cheese is melted.
Recipe Notes
Recipe from Lyuba @ willcookforsmiles.com All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to share this recipe, please simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.
Check out these great recipes from other bloggers:
Crispy Lemon Chicken Pasta from Kevin and Amanda
Ravioli with Sauteed Asparagus and Walnuts from Green Valley Kitchen
Chicken and Spinach Pasta Bake from Joyously Domestic
One Pot Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta from Spoonful of Flavor
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Jelli
Lyuba, this looks fantastic. I can only imagine how good it is with fresh asparagus. mmm.
lyuba
Oh yes, so tasty!
Thank you so much, Jelli!
Caroline
Can I just say I tried this last week and it’s amazing! Thank you so much 🙂 the two of us demolished this and could have eaten it all again, you just can’t stop once you’ve started! 🙂
lyuba
Awe, yay! I’m SO glad you liked it, Caroline!!