Goat cheese, lemon and asparagus pasta is a tangy and refreshing Springtime dish
The wonderful vegetable known as asparagus is baaaaack!
Like many of you, I hoard a lot of magazines and cookbooks. What? I can’t help it! The fact that I have all these food magazines and cookbooks lying around the house, it’s surprising to me that every night I wonder “what am I going to make for dinner?” I’ll admit, though, most of the ones I’ve bookmarked are more involved with ingredients than I’d prefer to use on a weeknight. I’m all about quick and easy after work. I don’t have the time to whip up something fancy or go to the store to grab additional ingredients.
One trend I’ve noticed within food bloggers and food magazines is the use of goat cheese. I was determined to find an easy dish with goat cheese in it because after seeing various friends’ posts with goat cheese, I vowed I’d get a log of it myself and find something to make with it. I recently subscribed to Bon Appetit on my iPad and they included a pasta recipe book and within it was this goat cheese, lemon, & asparagus pasta. Easy! I had all the ingredients and it took no time to whip up after work. I threw in chicken for some protein but you can omit it if you aren’t a fan.
So now the question is: where have I been? Did I dig myself a hole & climb into it? I’ve never used goat cheese in cooking until this dish. And it was SO good. I love the consistency of goat cheese and how it coats everything to make it so creamy good. It’s so smooth and the lemon gives you that refreshing bite and tang. This is definitely a spring time dish to make one evening! It makes a lot so if you’re having dinner guests over and don’t want to stress about a difficult dish to make, make this one. It’ll seem as if you’re some kind of pasta pro ;)
Goat Cheese, Lemon, and Asparagus Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound of penne pasta
- 1 pound asparagus, ends trimmed, and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp finely grated lemon peel
- 5 oz log of soft fresh goat cheese, don't buy the pre-crumbled one
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot, season water with salt and bring to a boil. Cook your pasta until al dente, about 7 minutes, then add in the asparagus and cook for 3 minutes longer.
- Meanwhile, combine oil and oil in a large bowl and crumble the goat cheese in.
- Drain the pasta and asparagus, while reserving 2 cups of pasta water. Add the hot pasta & asparagus to the cheese mixture. Add about 1/4 cup of the pasta water to the mixture as well. Toss to coat, adding more reserved liquid if it's too creamy or dry, by adding the water in 1/4 cup increments. I ended up adding almost 1 1/2 cups of the reserved liquid.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
I love all the lovely fresh flavours of this pasta, definitely a perfect spring dish!
Sounds like lunch to me!
Mmmmmmm! I want this for lunch today! Can we make that happen? ;)
I would marry goat cheese if possible. I can’t believe you were a virgin before this recipe! haha. The creaminess is pretty much amazing and it’s so much better for you than cream cheese or any of those other usual suspects. That bowl would last about 2 minutes in front of my face!
Asparagus and lemon ARE spring to me. Adding goat cheese only adds to the perfection! This sounds yummy. Will definitely give this a shot this week!
Done. and. Done.
oh wow, julie, this sounds awesome. i love pasta, i love veggies + i love love love lemon + goat cheese, so this is pretty much heaven in a bowl to me. send some down to nashville, please!
I adore this combo!! Goat cheese just can’t be beat. Ever.
Julie, I just love goat cheese. i could eat a bowl of it, it’s so addicting! this pasta dish looks so yummy. lemon, my fave cheese, and my fave veggie all in one… so delicious. :)
I just bought a ton of asparagus yesterday, now I know what to make. This looks delicious!
Oh how I love goat cheese! This looks fantastic. This is year 3 for the asparagus in my garden, and I can’t wait to start harvesting!! whoohoo!!!
Yes, I’m a big fan of goat cheese. I made a mac and goat cheese a while back and I’ve actually been craving it lately. Definitely adding lemon and asparagus next time!
Oh goat cheese pasta is my absolute FAVORITE. Yum!!
I have all these ingredients in my fridge. Looks like we’ll be having this for dinner!
Enjoy! :)
I’m obsessed with anything with goat cheese in it. So delicious
What a great spring dish! I love asparagus so much :)
Well there missy, I think you’ve just combined most of my favorite things into one meal, as long as I get to eat this with a beer. YUM.
This looks soooo good! I love using goat cheese on salads – it’s so creamy that you barely need any dressing.
You and I sound very similar when it comes to hoarding cookbooks/magazines but then saving the recipes for “a special occasion”! The flavors in this recipe sound amazing!
What a great use of goat cheese. I love a creamy pasta, and even better with asparagus!
yum! yum! yummy! I love everything in this!
Gorgeous pasta, Julie. And isn’t goat cheese the best? It is definitely one of my favorite cheeses to work with.
This is a delicious flavour combination: goat cheese, asparagus, pasta with a pinch of fresh lemon… So creamy and so good!
I’m loving this recipe! Looks fantastic Julie.
oh, I am so happy it’s asparagus season again! i’m putting this on my to-make list :)
this sounds fantastic! i bet the lemon brightens up the whole dish! yum!!
My manivore probably wouldn’t even notice that this doesn’t contain any meat! It looks so delicious, Julie!
What a GREAT dish! Love how easy and simple it is. And that it’s creamy from the goat cheese and not heavy cream :)
Sometimes few perfect ingredients make memorable meals. ;).
Yum, this looks delicious. Love the addition of the goat cheese, and that gorgeous fresh asparagus!
Made this for dinner tonight. Turned out great!
Easy, light meal-
YUM!
Thank you :)
Glad everyone enjoyed it! One of my favorites. It’s very refreshing!