This truly is a wonderful springy gem! Bucatini noodles in a garlic-infused creamy sauce and twirled around buttery bits of asparagus and peas. SO GOOD!
Garlic Cream Bucatini with Peas and Asparagus
Featured comment
I made this last night and it was absolutely delicious and so easy! The spring flavors are perfect and the breadcrumbs really do make it next level. Will be making again!
Alivia
This recipe is sponsored by DeLallo
Listen, we are firm believers that winter doesn’t get to hog all the comfort food, let spring get in on this game! Especially when that food-hug comes in the form of fresh green asparagus bathed in garlic with big bright pops of sweet and springy green peas splashing around in coils of pasta all gently coated in a lush and light lemony garlic cream sauce.
Are there deliciously crunchy and outstandingly savory little golden crispies involved? Absolutely. Is this already wonderful springy win made even better with a fun pasta shape? Yes ma’am, bring on the bucatini!
Ingredients For This Vegetable Bucatini
If you’ve never had bucatini, it’s sort of like macaroni meets spaghetti. All the fun of a macaroni tube but with the long twirls and twists of spaghetti. It’s also got a little more heft to really hang onto your sauce, but it still feels kinda light and twirls with the best of them.
And of course, when we are in the mood for a fun pasta shape, we usually turn to our faves from DeLallo! All of their products are just so high quality and truly elevate all your fave carby dishes. Their pastas are handcrafted in Italy and they are all bronze-cut making the texture just a very A+ partner to your favorite sauces. (But, like, also DeLallo has amazing jarred sauces!) And though you could play around with the pastas in this dish, their bronze-cut bucatini is SUCH A WIN.
So other than your favorite noodle pick, here’s what you’ll need to bring this springtime pasta together:
- asparagus
- fresh garlic, grated
- frozen peas
- chicken or vegetable broth
- butter
- heavy cream
- lemon
- some golden crispies (the best toasty breadcrumbs there ever were!)
Are you going to sprinkle some grated parm or maybe some fresh herbs on top just to be a little bit extra? We certainly hope so. Shower it with green, friends. Spring is here.
Springtime Pasta, Here We Come
No need to spend too much time in the kitchen with this one, we want you to be able to get outside for those brief but increasingly warm temps and get some sunshine on your face, so let’s keep things pretty simple here.
- Cook the pasta. Like you do. Oh my, oh my, we hope it’s some bucatini because funnn!
- Build your sauce. Melt the butter and toss your asparagus in for a bit, until soft and bright green. Get that garlic in there until fragrant and then in goes the broth and heavy cream.
- Simmer and season. Once the sauce thickens a bit, add in the peas for the last few minutes of cooking. Then spring it up with lemon juice + zest, salt, and pepp.
- Toss and top! Let everything really thicken up and cling on to that beautiful pasta. Then get your golden crispies raining all over that gem!
The creamy, the crunch, the bright green, the pasta…oof, a lot of wonderful happening here.
There’s Just So Much To Love About This Veg Pasta
Though it is an absolutely lovely little vegetarian queen as is, if you wanna switch things up, you would not be mad about throwing some rotisserie chicken on there or maybe a little sautéed shrimp? Yes, yes yaaaaahm! We’ve tried it and loved it and you will too!
You can also totally play around with your vegetable choices in there. We really loved the sweet green springy combo of the peas and asparagus, but you could for sure empty your fresh produce haul into this for a real pasta primavera sensation.
The sauce is also that perfect balance between rich and light so it really does feel like comfort food with a fresh shine. And if you know us, you know we would cover just about everything in to-die-for golden crispies if we could. If you don’t already have a container of them made and waiting (or if you did but you already ate them like cereal….been known to happen), then you can find out how here or see the recipe notes for a quick cheat version. Yays all around!
If you’re craving spring pasta, and honestly, who isn’t? Please kindly make your way to the kitchen and hop on this one.
Garlic Cream Bucatini with Peas and Asparagus: Frequently Asked Questions
What protein options pair best with pasta?
Shredded rotisserie chicken or sautéed shrimp pair great with this spring pasta!
Will other cuts of pasta work?
Yes! Though bucatini is one our faves here because it’s a bit thicker than spaghetti and it’s just so fun to twirl and twirl and twirl.
Can I make this dairy-free?
You could try using a plant-based butter (or use oil) as well as a coconut cream to keep this dairy-free.
Garlic Cream Bucatini with Peas and Asparagus
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 generous servings 1x
Description
This truly is a wonderful springy gem! Bucatini noodles in a garlic-infused creamy sauce and twirled around buttery bits of asparagus and peas. SO GOOD!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1/2 pound of DeLallo Bucatini Pasta
- 2 tablespoons butter
- half a bunch of asparagus, ends trimmed and sliced diagonally (about 1 1/2 cups once cut)
- 4 cloves garlic, grated
- 3/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- half of a bag of frozen peas (about a heaping cup)
- zest of one lemon
- lemon juice to taste
- salt and pepper to taste
- some golden crispies aka breadcrumbs for topping (see notes for a shortcut)
Instructions
- Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions.
- Melt butter over medium heat. Add asparagus and cook for 5 minutes, until soft and bright green. (You’ll simmer the asparagus a bit longer in the sauce, so it’s okay if it’s still a little firm.)
- Add garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
- Add broth and heavy cream; bring to a low simmer. Once it thickens into more of a sauce, add in the frozen peas for the final few minutes of cooking. Season with the lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper.
- Toss the sauce with the pasta; keep it all over low heat for a few minutes so the pasta and the sauce really come together. Let stand for a few minutes if necessary for everything to thicken and the sauce to really cling on to the pasta. Top with lots and lots of breadcrumbs, and some rotisserie chicken or sautéed shrimp if you want! So yum!
Notes
Shortcut version of the golden crispies / breadcrumbs: Toast the panko in a skillet with a few tablespoons of olive oil until golden brown. Season with dried Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss the toasted seasoned panko with crushed store-bought crunchy onions and try not to eat the whole bowl.
Nutrition information does not include golden crispies or any additional protein options suggested, like chicken or shrimp.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian-Inspired
Keywords: spring pasta, vegetable pasta, bucatini recipe
Thank you to DeLallo for sponsoring this recipe!
More Pastas Swimming In Luscious Cream Sauces
- Creamy Shrimp Pasta with Corn and Tomatoes (fresh and perfect for warmer weather)
- 5 Ingredient Vegan Vodka Pasta (a creamy creamless pasta dream!)
- Creamy Garlic Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta (with a heavy dusting of Parm cheese)
Filed Under: All Recipes Dinner Lemon Main Dishes Pasta Quick and Easy Spring Sugar-Free Summer Vegetarian
April 18, 2022
Created By The POY Team
Lindsay Ostrom
Recipe Developer
Eman Kemp
Editorial
Rita Boersma
Writer
Bucatini is my love language. This looks slurptastic. <3
😋❤️
I have a package of chicken legs that need something different and this is it!!! I cannot wait to make this!
Do you watch Chicken marinating videos on YouTube for creative ways to season your Chicken?
Made this tonight for dinner. Super yummy!
So glad you enjoyed it, Patricia!
We hope you enjoy it!
Can’t wait to make this with chicken or salmon! Sounds divine and i LOVE bucatini pasta!!
Enjoy, Cathy!
All i can say (around bites) is YUMM!!!!
a new favorite dish! goes so well with blackened chicken, the contrast with the peppery chicken and the pasta sauce, wow.
Sounds divine! So glad you enjoyed it!
I’m sure glad you’re still sinpired with your food blogging 10+ years later. Hats off to you for going the extra mile, Lindsay. 🙂
Dear Lindsay, Just wanted to say thank you for all the fabulous food, brilliant photos and methods. You are the best and as a cook myself, whenever people ask for recipes I sent them to your site.
I do a similar pasta with plenty of chopped roasted pistachios. Now I am in craving mode.
Sounds delicious, Nancy!
This is an easy, fast, and delicious spring dish. The sauce is perfect in terms of taste, creamy texture and amount. (Unlike so many recipes, this one yielded plenty of sauce for the pasta. Chicken broth addition is brilliant). Seems like a very versatile recipe, as well. We left off the bread crumb topping and and added chopped, sautéed snap peas in addition to frozen peas, and it was amazing.
So glad to hear you enjoyed it, Maggie! Thanks for leaving a comment!
I made this last night and it was absolutely delicious and so easy! The spring flavors are perfect and the breadcrumbs really do make it next level. Will be making again!
Thank you for the recipe! Made it tonight. I didn’t have heavy cream so I used half and half. My sauce didn’t really thicken until I added a spoon of flour – I’m just wondering if the mistake was that I used half and half? Everything else I had on hand.
I LOVED this recipe but had the same issue. Maybe should’ve added flour beforehand.
Hi Kim! Heavy cream helps to thicken the sauce, so I’m sure it’s because you used half and half, which by the way, is totally fine to do!
Made this for dinner last night, it was fantastic! Will definitely be adding it into my rotation.
I love the simplicity of this. However, for me it was missing a little bit of the Wow factor. I might use white wine next time in place of the lemon juice, and overall play around with this recipe to see if I can get it to where it better suits our taste buds. Also, is 1/2 pound of noodles really correct for 6 generous servings?
Half a Lb of pasta was definitely not enough for my family of 4. Next time I would use 1 Lb.
Great feedback! Thanks for the comment.
Really delicious recipe. I love it yummy!!! It’s really awesome
Made this for lunch today and it was so tasty! Super simple too but packed with flavor. Rich and creamy but still bright with the lemon and asparagus and peas.
I can’t wait to make it again now that I have the golden crispies, can always trust POY to make yummy things. Another winner! Thank you
This recipe is another winner. It’s so creamy and flavourful! Most of my favourites come from your blog!
I doubled the recipe, which obviously meant the sauce took longer to thicken, but otherwise it turned out exactly as it should. The asparagus is a little extra soft as a result but not bad. I think next time I would avoid doubling – but there will be a next time because this pasta is delicious!
Hello, Lindsay. I just wanted to thank you for all of the fantastic food, images, and approaches. You are the finest, and so as a chef myself, I often direct others to your website when they ask for recipes.
This has been delicious both times I’ve made it- but I cannot for the life of me get this sauce to thicken up! I’ve had to add a bunch of cheese both times- which probably makes it taste even better- but the sauce is always a bit too thin and the pasta-to-sauce ratio is always off.
Hi Elizabeth! You could try using less broth and more heavy cream!
I always appreciate reading the reviews of others who made the recipe. I took the suggestions of others and adjusted it slightly. Roasted the garlic ahead of time, and cut back on the liquids slightly since most had an issue with getting the sauce to thicken. Added in some yummy chicken as well. 2 generous servings. This was a huge hit!
Subbed white button mushrooms by volume for the peas, served with seared salmon. Super simple and just as tasty. Those golden crispies are where it’s at – definitely don’t skip them (though I did use all dried herbs for that part)!
I enjoyed this greatly! The lemon flavor radiated throughout. I used the cascatelli pasta from Trader Joe’s.
I thickened the sauce with a cornstarch slurry. It may have thickened eventually on its own, but I was impatient 🙂 I used lots of ground black pepper, and I added freshly grated parmigiano reggiano to the sauce and on top, as well as sliced breaded chicken. The breadcrumbs are a must.
It took me about 50 minutes all together which seems consistent with the time mentioned in the header.
Overall, would make again!
I halved the recipe to make 3 servings, I swapped half the heavy cream with FF half n half to reduce calories.
After reading other comments about the sauce not thickening I just added 1 rounded teaspoon of corn starch and 2 teaspoons of water just before adding the peas and seasoning and it came out thick, creamy and good. That worked perfect for a half a recipe.
I also made 1/4 C of the panko crispies and served it with a nice ribeye. 😋
This was sooo delicious! Didn’t take any pictures because we were too busy eating. 😊
This was quite good! Our diet is more like a healthy, old school Mediterranean diet so we don’t eat very little cow dairy and we don’t eat land meat. Given that, I used Smart Balance to replace the butter and I made the “heavy cream” out of blending Silk Next milk with some cashews. I also skipped the lemon zest, but used some lemon juice and then I added sheeps milk Pecorino Romano to the sauce. I also made healthy, garlic infused toasted bread crumbs with 100% whole wheat bread. Lastly, I doubled the recipe to make enough to feed our family. And, the bucatini turned out great! We topped it with grilled shrimp and everyone enjoyed it. Thanks for the great recipe! It was easily adaptable to our dietary lifestyle.
This spring recipe is simple, quick, and tasty. The sauce is ideal in terms of flavor, creamy consistency, and quantity. (Unlike many other recipes, this one produced an abundance of spaghetti sauce. The addition of chicken broth is great). Also seems to be a fairly adaptable recipe. It was fantastic without the bread crumbs and with the addition of chopped, sautéed snap peas along with the frozen peas.
This spring meal is easy, efficient, and delicious. In terms of flavor, a creamy texture, and amount, the sauce is perfect. (In contrast to many other recipes, this one yielded a lot of spaghetti sauce. Chicken broth is a terrific addition. Also looks to be a recipe that is very customizable. Without the bread crumbs and with the addition of chopped, sautéed snap peas in addition of the frozen peas, it was excellent.