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I made these asparagus noodles for a dinner party last night and oh my they were so tasty! I love the idea of asparagus noodles. So cool!
Jessica
This recipe is sponsored by DeLallo
Are you ready to be wow-ed?
These are asparagus noodles, as in ASPARAGUS that you shave thinly to look and act like fettuccine noodles. Hoooooly goodness. I am for real. The day I made them, I literally could not shut up about it. I called over everyone in the studio: look at this! look! aren’t they so pretty! hey! you! look look looooook! It’s a magic trick that you can eat.
How To Make Our Asparagus Noodles:
Veg noodles have been having their hot second in the spotlight, but I had never-ever-ever heard of asparagus noodles until I flipped open the most recent Food Network magazine and saw their recipe for Asparagus Noodles with Pesto. EXCUSEMEWHAT? Asparagus as noodles? Okay, alright, catching my breath.
This could be really cool or really weird.
We, the POY team who is always hungry and/or looking for good ideas, decided to give it a try. And after getting jumbo asparagus, testing a few ways of prepping, and working on our skills with the vegetable peeler, I think we finally nailed it. Amiright? Just check those gorgeous paper-thin ribbons.
I don’t want to get too confident here since we did borrow this general idea from them, but I do want to go on record as saying that I think our version is quite a bit better than the Food Network one. We cooked the noodles for a LOT less time because we are all morally opposed to soggy vegetables. We also got rid of the extra greens (asparagus + arugula? all of it cooked? just, ugh. mush factor was out of control.) and swapped the arugula for bacon and peas and Pecorino Romano cheese. ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA.
I also swapped in our favorite jarred pesto since it doubles as an improvement and a shortcut.
It’s spring, guys, so obvi pesto is happening on everything right now. And you know I love homemade pesto! How many times have we bonded over this? Think about it: kale pesto, walnut pesto, magic green sauce which is sort of like a glorified pesto…
But sometimes a girl just needs a jar of (ACTUALLY GOOD TASTING) store-bought pesto in her pantry so she can whip up asparagus noodle magic in no time. This pesto, for us, is a super quick meal-builder that does not sacrifice on quality. If you haven’t picked up on it over the last 50 years that I’ve been a super fan, I’ll remind you again that tippy-top quality (at regular prices) is just the DeLallo way.
We bought this stuff at our local Whole Foods, but I also regularly buy DeLallo products (pesto included) at Cub Foods for those of you who are reppin’ the Midwest with me.
Here’s how I have most enjoyed this salad/noodle situation: as a side for my wild rice burgers. Stay with me.
Sometimes it’s as-is, just served as a little side veg dish, and sometimes it’s more of an add-on to my ever-evolving wild rice burger stackers. I’ll even leave off the peas and bacon and just go for the pesto asparagus noodles, plain jane, over top of the wild rice burger with a fried egg and an obscene amount of chipotle hot sauce. OMG. Please do this for yourself. It can be breakfast OR lunch OR dinner, and it is utterly BEYOND.
Asparagus as noodles, with pesto, peas, bacon, and cheese – verdict: cool.
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Pesto Asparagus Noodles
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Asparagus Noodles with Pesto – shave your asparagus into long noodles just like fettuccine!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds jumbo asparagus
- 1/4 cup DeLallo pesto (more to taste)
- cooked, crumbled bacon
- cooked peas
- grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Instructions
- Cut of the woody ends of the asparagus. Using a vegetable peeler, shave the asparagus into wide ribbons, like fettuccine noodles. You will get to a point with each piece where you can’t shave them any further, leaving a thicker “noodle” of asparagus. I’d recommend just saving those and using them in something else so they don’t mess with your gorgeous paper-thin noodles.
- Heat a little bit of oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the asparagus to the pan in batches, tossing around the pan for no more than 30 seconds to one minute. You want the asparagus to be right between raw and cooked, because once they get too cooked, they will go soggy on you (and… no thanks).
- Toss the semi-cooked asparagus very gently with the pesto in a large bowl. Plate the “noodles” just like you would with normal pasta, and top with bacon, peas, cheese, and extra pesto! Yummy!
Notes
Like most salads, this doesn’t make great leftovers. But you CAN shave the asparagus in advance and just cook it right before serving.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: asparagus noodles, pesto noodles, asparagus recipe
This post was sponsored by DeLallo and their delicious Pesto!
literally 5 of my favorite things happening right here…asparagus, cheese, bacon, spring peas, & pesto. how could you even go wrong?! can’t wait to try your method for the noodz! xx
I just recently discovered carrot “noodles” and have really been digging them. But asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables, so this is happening. Also, yes, a girl needs a really good brand of pesto in her fridge, cuz life man.
Omg, I had no idea you could noodle asparagus! Mind=blown. This looks insanely good and I’m definitely going to try it.
Lindsay, I just wanted to say I think you’ve handled the transition from the tragedy of Afton’s death back to food blog SO impressively. I thought the “feeding a broken heart” series was inspiring and a beautiful way to acknowledge your loss while also getting back to your food roots. I think all of your readers understand that you can’t ever move on from such a tragedy, but you (and Bjork!) have been so gracious in sharing your pain with us and the return to your more regular content.
I think you win the award for the most sping-y recipe ever. Just throw a few colored peeps on top and we’re set. But seriously, asparagus noodles? What? That’s sort of hard to believe. I just learned that asparagus is really just a weed and doesn’t need anything in particular to grow – that lowered my self-esteem. Oh well. Love the eye-popping green.
i love these easy recipes using quality ingredients <3 and im way impressed by those thin noodles…i have made noodles like these with carrots, but am anxious to try asparagus! zoodles are great and all but i gotta switch up the green love because i am OVER them. -_-
“This could be really cool or really weird.”
😂 haha! I’m glad it turned out really cool! The pictures are fantastic!
Oh, I love asparagus noodles! A few years ago I had them at a restaurant and was like – what alchemy is this! The jumbo asparagus definitely work best. I’ve had a few sad salads when I tried to use smaller ones 🙂 hah
I was addicted to asparagus noodles about 5 years ago, but it always tasted more salad-y because I never thought of cooking the noodles. Definitely like this idea of creating an actual pasta dish with it =)
Right!? Hope you enjoy it, Ashley!
Ok, I think you just blew my mind with these noodles…What a great idea!! This sounds amazing 🙂
Love it! Fabulous idea!
Love, love, love this idea! I absolutely can’t wait to try it as asparagus is one of my all-time favorite spring veggies. Healthy too with all of its detox compounds! And love that the recipe is super easy.
Hope you enjoy it, Stephanie!
LOVE this idea! Beautiful photos as always! 🙂
These sound wonderful. But I really want to thank you for the nutrition information for your recipes. So helpful.
OMG super amazing recipe! I love it!
It looks so yummy. I love your recipes and I used to test it sometimes.
Where do you think of these?! Honestly, how many more of your recipes can be added to my weekly rotation?!
Thank youuuuu
Lo
http://www.themixtures.com
ASPARAGUS NOODLES!!! you are pure genius, lady. jaw on the floor, I’m not over this yet.
Lindsay! You must have used big ol’ fat asparagus spears. My strands came out pretty skinny and it took my almost an hour to make noodles out of one bunch of asparagus. I used prosciutto instead of bacon and I used your Avocado Basil Pesto (at least I think that was your recipe) that I froze from my garden last summer. It was delicious! But probably not the thing to tackle after washing the windows of our house.
OMG, I’m just overly excited that I stumbled upon your website!! Quality recipes at its finest :).
These green pesto pasta and noodles are looking yummy. My kid loves noodles and every week I try to prepare different type of noodle for him. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
This is a super cool idea. I was wondering how long does it take to make those gorgeous asparagus ribbons?
Hi Teena! It’ll take some time for the whole bunch, but will be easier if they’re jumbo – I’d budget at least 30 mins.
wow, nice, happy to see all the protein you added, looks like you made a nice tweak to the Food N. version and am glad you did, thank you for this, especially for taking the time to get it right, good to know how much R&D was put into this!
Thanks for the comment, Sabrina! 🙂
I am wondering what your most used lens is for your food photographs. Which is your main lens??
Hi Jenny! I’d recommend checking out Lindsay’s recommendations in the Shop: http://wvaea.org/shop?fwp_shop_categories=photography
I made these asparagus noodles for a dinner party last night and oh my they were so tasty! I love the idea of asparagus noodles. So cool!
Glad you enjoyed it, Jessica!