This Roasted Asparagus and Mushroom Pasta recipe is an easy way to enjoy the spring vegetable as part of a vegetarian main course pasta dish. Roasting the asparagus and tossing it with cheese and pasta opens up the wine pairing options.
We initially published this as “Roasted Asparagus and Mushroom Fettuccine”, but have now also enjoyed this preparation with ziti. We have updated the recipe title accordingly.
We’ve been on a roasted asparagus kick lately, making the most of this spring vegetable. I have enjoyed roasted asparagus and mushrooms as a side dish, and thought that combination would also be good tossed with pasta.
When I first made fettuccine with asparagus and mushrooms, I knew I had a winner! I know make this vegetarian recipe regularly, especially in the spring.
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What makes this recipe work
Asparagus and mushroom pasta with no cream: This recipe is lighter than other fettuccine dishes that rely on cream. Roasted Asparagus and Mushroom Fettuccine just uses Parmesan cheese, olive oil and a bit of lemon juice, in addition to the roasted veggies.
You can cook the pasta as the asparagus and mushrooms roast, so this all comes together in just over 30 minutes. The length of roasting time depends on the thickness of the asparagus.
Step by step
Here’s a step by step overview of how to make the asparagus mushroom pasta with some pictures to guide you. Get the full recipe instructions in our recipe card.
Prepare the asparagus Snap a stock of asparagus to get a sense of what portion of the woody stem you want to discard. As shown below, use that as a guide for where to cut your asparagus. Typically I use about two to three inches and discard the woody bottom. Here’s a recipe for Asparagus End Soup from Maritime Glutton that looks like a great way to make use of the bottom of the asparagus!
Arrange asparagus in a baking dish.
Add sliced mushrooms to the baking dish along with the asparagus.
Stir in the tarragon, garlic powder and extra virgin olive oil.
Roast the asparagus and mushrooms for 25 to 30 minutes. The vegetables should become browned and softened as shown below. Cook the pasta while the vegetables are roasting.
Combine the pasta and vegetables: Drain the pasta when it is cooked to your liking. Toss immediately with the roasted asparagus and mushrooms, and the additional olive oil.
Stir in the cheese and lemon juice, then you are ready to enjoy the roasted asparagus and mushroom pasta!
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Recipe tips
Here are a few tips to make this asparagus pasta recipe come out great:
What type of pasta to use? As I mentioned before, we originally made this dish with fettuccine. Recently we used ziti, and that worked well, too. I would think bowtie pasta (farfalle) would work nicely, too. The farfalle was good in this similar Asparagus Chicken Bowtie Pasta recipe.
Thickness of asparagus The thickness of the asparagus stalks will influence how long you will need to roast the asparagus for. If they are really thin, you can drop 5 minutes from the roasting time. Plan on an extra 5 minutes if the asparagus is very thick.
Fresh herbs Our recipe calls for dried tarragon, but fresh herbs are always nice. If you want to use fresh tarragon, I would add it at the end, when combining the vegetables with the pasta.
More recipes to try
If you like this recipe, be sure to check out these other favorites from Cooking Chat.
One more to consider – we just updated our Asparagus Goat Cheese Pasta recipe. It’s delicious and easy!
Wine pairings
As noted in our red wine with asparagus post, roasting asparagus turns a veggie that can be tricky to pair with wine into a good companion for red wine.
You could enjoy a range of medium bodied red wines with this dish, such as a Pinot Noir or a Cotes du Rhone. I have also enjoyed it with a Portuguese red wine blend.
This dish is versatile in terms of wine pairing options. I have also paired this asparagus pasta recipe with a 2016 Mille Cristaletto Pinot Grigio ($22, 12.3 ABV) from Venezia, Italy.
This is a dry white wine with notes of lemon and hazelnut. I’d say the white wine option worked pretty well with the dish, but I have a slight preference for red wine with the roasted asparagus and mushroom fettuccine.
Check out our article on How To Pair Wine With Asparagus for more tips on how to pick wines for this vegetable that is not known for being wine friendly!
PrintRecipe card
Roasted Asparagus and Mushroom Pasta
Roasted asparagus and mushrooms tossed with pasta, cheese and lemon juice for a satisfying vegetarian pasta dish.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 35 mins
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 8 ozs mushrooms, sliced
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp dried tarragon
- salt and pepper to taste
- 12 ozs pasta — we like fettuccine or ziti
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese plus extra for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Prep the asparagus: remove the coarse woody stock, typically about the bottom half of the asparagus spear. Chop the remaining tip portions into 2 inch pieces. Add to a roasting pan.
- Add the mushrooms to the pan, then toss the mushrooms and asparagus with 2 tablespoons olive oil.
- Add the garlic powder, tarragon, salt and pepper to the asparagus mushrooms mixture. Stir to combine.
- Roast the asparagus and mushrooms for 25 to 30 minutes, until the asparagus is tender and begins to brown.
- Cook the pasta: Meanwhile, boil a pot of water for the pasta. Cook according to package instructions, timing it so that the asparagus is done a bit before the pasta.
- Drain the pasta Toss the pasta with the asparagus mushroom mixture and the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stir in the cheese and lemon juice, and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Type of pasta: we originally made this with fettuccine, and that works nicely. Ziti is also a great choice- the tubular pasta is a similar length to the pieces of asparagus.
- Roasting time will vary a bit based on the thickness of the asparagus. We used asparagus that were medium thickness and that took 25 to 30 minutes. Drop the time by 5 minutes if your asparagus is very thin, and add 5 minutes if it is quite thick.
Demeter
Love asparagus and mushroom together! Sounds like such a fantastic dinner option.
Cooking Chat
they are a nice pair!
Meghna
This could be my dinner tonight. The combo sounds delicious and it’s so easy to make. Thanks for the recipe!
Cooking Chat
Thanks! it works well together.
Carrie | Clean Eating Kitchen
Such a fabulous Spring dish and I love the wine you’ve paired it with! I just need some more sun so I can enjoy eating this outside!
Cooking Chat
We have sun here but too chilly to eat outside!
Heidy L. McCallum
I just adore these pretty plates and the food looks fabulous, definitely a recipe my entire family would enjoy. Saving this recipe to make a later day.
Chris Collins
Asparagus is my absolute fave! I’m definitely giving this recipe a go!! 🙂
Cooking Chat
Hope you like it Chris!
Freya
I use vegan Parmesan and this makes the perfect vegan supper! So full of flavour!
Liz
This pasta dish sounds delicious! I love adding mushrooms to my pasta, but haven’t tried asparagus before!
Cooking Chat
It’s a good combo to try, Liz! The roasted asparagus in particular goes well with mushrooms.
Jamie
Oh my, this combination is just so perfect! This recipe looks amazingly delicious and very tasty! We can never just go wrong with pasta! Loved it!
Ann
This pasta dish sounds delicious! I have some frozen asparagus from our garden to use in this recipe.
Elizabeth
I have made a recipe similar to this before, and it was delicious! Excited to give your version a try!
Amy Liu Dong
Such a simple, easy, and delicious recipe to make.
I can’t wait to try this at home!