Spring Pea and Asparagus Pasta

This very green pasta dish is bursting with spring flavors, including peas, asparagus and fresh herbs. Once you have prepped your vegetables, the dish comes together rather quickly. This recipe yields a lot (enough for 6 to 8 servings) so feel free to halve it if you are serving two.

Beware that this recipe requires some serious chopping work, but the end result is worth the effort. The recipe yields quite a bit of food, enough for six to eight servings, so it may be best created with helpers and shared with a small crowd. I’ve realized lately that good food tastes much better when shared.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound (16 ounces) whole grain pasta (conchiglie, orecchiette, shells, fusilli or linguine will work)
• 4 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for garnish
• 5 shallots, quartered lengthwise and sliced very thin crosswise
• 1 pound pencil-thin asparagus, woody ends snapped off, and cut in ½-inch slices on the bias
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups shelled fresh or frozen English peas (defrost peas if frozen)
• ⅔ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (or regular Parmesan), plus more for garnish
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (from one lemon)
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (less than one lemon)
• 1 cup roughly chopped mixed herbs (I used flat-leaf Italian parsley, chives and mint, other suggestions include chervil and tarragon)
• ¾ cup toasted pine nuts
• sea salt, to taste
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• pinch red pepper flakes (optional)