Lemon Lovers’ Pasta Primavera

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. In the meantime, prep all the remaining ingredients. 

2. Step 2

   Add asparagus and peas to the boiling water and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until crisp-tender. Using a spider or mesh strainer, scoop out the vegetables and transfer to a bowl for later; feel free to cover the vegetables with ice to preserve their color. 

3. Step 3

   Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook 1 minute less than the package instructions. 

4. Step 4

   While the pasta cooks, heat a large, high-sided skillet over medium. Add butter and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Once halfway melted, add garlic and black pepper and cook until the butter has fully melted and the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add lemon zest and cook, stirring, until fragrant and the garlic is beginning to brown around the edges, about 30 seconds more. 

5. Step 5

   While stirring, slowly stream in the lemon juice. Reduce heat to as low as possible (if this is still a strong flame on your stove, turn off the heat — the Parmesan you’ll add later won’t emulsify into the sauce well if the heat is too hot). Taste the sauce and season with salt as needed; it should be only slightly less salty than how you’d want to eat it. 

6. Step 6

   Transfer the drained vegetables to the skillet, and using the spider strainer from earlier, transfer the pasta into the skillet (along with any water that clings to the pasta). Toss once or twice to coat the pasta in the sauce, then sprinkle over half the Parmesan. Toss well until the sauce begins to thicken and coat the noodles and the Parmesan is fully incorporated. Repeat with remaining Parmesan. Add more pasta water as needed to adjust the consistency of the sauce to your preference. 

7. Step 7

   Serve pasta topped with torn herbs and more black pepper, Parmesan and lemon zest if desired.