Do you guys ever feel like you have about 15 million more things on your to-do list every day than you can possibly do? Yeah, that’s where I am right now. Like I mentioned earlier this week, my family and I just got home from vacation on Monday and then today, Sara and I are heading to Dallas for a speaking engagement. I literally haven’t unpacked my vacation suitcase yet, let alone packed my work suitcase. We’re feverishly putting final touches and turning in final edits on our next book. Yesterday, I literally changed out of my pajama pants into real pants (and by “real pants,” I mean yoga pants) so I could pay my daughter’s dance tuition. Right now, all I want to do is paint my front door, make yummy food, put together a baby crib, plant flowers, and take a nap, but that will have to wait until after next weekend.
I’m not complaining–I’m grateful for our opportunities, and honestly, I’d rather be busy than not busy. But simple things like dinner are also stressing me out. I’m sick of eating out, I don’t have a huge appetite, and I don’t have a lot of time on my hands, so I guess I’m kind of in the mood for fancy-ish comfort food. That’s easy. And not horrible for me. Not a terribly tall order, right? Yeah, right.
I kind of threw this together using my favorite Alfredo sauce and some fresh produce I had in my fridge. And it ended up being so so so so good. SO good. I kind of wish I’d thrown a few shrimp sauteed in the lemon olive oil, but even still, it was one of the best things I’d eaten in a long time.
To get started, break the tough ends off of a pound of asparagus and thickly slice about 3-4 cups of whole mushrooms.
Preheat your oven to 400. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and set it aside.
Using a fine grater or Microplane, zest 2 lemons (or enough to get 1 tablespoon lemon zest). Juice the 2 lemons (or enough to get about 1/4 cup of lemon juice)…
Add 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 4-5 cloves minced garlic, 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon Creole or coarse-grain mustard, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt.
Whisk the mixture together and then toss it with the mushrooms and asparagus. Spread the veggies onto the prepared baking sheet and roast it in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the veggies are tender but not mushy. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes.
While the veggies are roasting, cook 8 ounces linguine in salted water al dente and prepare a batch of Guiltless Alfredo Sauce. After you add the Parmesan cheese, add the lemon zest. You can either portion out the pasta, sauce, and veggies into individual servings or toss it all together. Serves 6-8.
Roasted Asparagus and Mushroom Pasta in Lemon-Cream Sauce
Recipe by Our Best Bites
1 lb. asparagus, tough ends snapped off
3-4 cups whole mushrooms, thickly sliced
5-6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup strained lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon Creole or coarse-grain mustard
8 ounces uncooked linguine
1 recipe Guiltless Alfredo Sauce
Optional: Grilled chicken breast or sauteed shrimp
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine trimmed asparagus and sliced mushrooms. Zest the lemons (enough to get 1 tablespoon of zest) and set the zest aside.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and mustard. Drizzle over the veggies and toss to combine. Spread the veggies out onto the prepared baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes or until the asparagus is tender but not mushy. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes.
While the veggies are roasting, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and, when the water is ready, cook pasta al dente. Prepare the Alfredo sauce. After you’ve added the cheese, add the reserved lemon zest to the sauce. When the asparagus and mushrooms are done roasting, you can either portion out the pasta, veggies, and sauce into individual servings or toss it all together. Serves 6-8.
Questions & Reviews
Shut the front door! This is SO GOOD!!! We roasted the chicken, and since we didn’t have asparagus, we roasted mushrooms and cherry tomatoes, which turned out SO yummy. To add a little green to the meal, we added in fresh spinach to wilt in the sauce before we served it over wheat noodles. I feel like every other day I’m telling all my coworkers and friends about this AMAZING thing I made for dinner, and like 90% of the time, it comes from y’all! Keep it up ladies. You are keeping my household happy and full 🙂
This is amazing. I added shrimp…definitely going on in my “go to” recipes!
This recipe is awesome! I had my husband make it for dinner (yes, my husband is awesome) the night you posted it and it turned out so good. We took your suggestion and added shrimp. Even my kids gobbled it up. My husband says this is one of his new favorites!
Love, Love, LOVE. Thank you!!
Okay, so it’s not that this doesn’t look good, but I was trying to post that comment on the no-mess frosting post. I have no idea how I got it on the wrong one. LOL. Making icing decorations was my day job at one point, but when I have to just use it at home here and there it’s a mess and a pain. Your tip will definitely help me a lot. 😀
Wow! For a “throw-together” meal, this was incredible! I could never throw something together and have it turn out so well. I made this exactly as your recipe stated without any alterations (except I only roasted my asparagus for 13 minutes because it was so thin), and it was delicious. I served it with a tossed green salad and homemade french bread. My husband had two large servings and my kids devoured it. The sauce was divine. I’ve never made your guitless alfredo sauce before though I’ve meant to for ages! I’ve been missing out! Thanks for a keeper of a recipe. Good luck with your busy, busy life and your miles-long to-do list.
Just made this for dinner and loved it! Thanks so much for another wonderful recipe.
I made this last night, and it was super delicious! 20 minutes was too long for the asparagus to roast in my oven but it was perfect for the mushrooms, so next time I will roast the mushrooms for 10 minutes, add the asparagus and roast everything for 10 more minutes. I will also make more mushrooms because they shrink down a lot! So lemon-y and fresh delicious, thanks very much for the recipe.
We are entering asparagus season here in Australia – looking forward to trying this recipe. Thanks!
Yes, the recipe sounds delicious, but that is no surprise everything from the blog and cookbook is wonderful. I need clarification on another topic please. Having followed your blog for years I feel like best girl friends, we’ve just never met in person, so you can imagine my shock when I see things like “put together a crib” “take a nap” “not much appetite” – did I miss an announcement!? And if so congratulations are definitely in order! Thanks for all the food (and crafts, decorations, party, etc. . ) inspiration fabulousness.
LOVED seeing yall in Arlington today! Thanks for the laughs, we had such a fun time! Love, Love, Love your blog and have been a follower for a while!