Pasta with Asparagus, Pancetta, and Pine Nuts Recipe (2024)

This is marvelous - I wondered if I'd miss some sort of creaminess in the sauce, but it's flavorful and light and quick and easy. I dry-toasted my pine nuts and sauteed my pancetta and garlic, got it nice and crispy, and then spooned off the drippings before adding to the pasta. Totally hit the spot, especially for a summer meal. This will definitely be going into my personal recipe collection!

EVERYONE that eats this loves it and warning: it's completely addicting. I find myself daydreaming about it. The toasted pine nuts give the most incredible richness and crunch, the pancetta gives just a dab of salt and decadence to a nice, healthy recipe, and the light lemon juice dressing makes Ranch look completely pedestrian. This is the pasta salad that people will request you start bringing to every BBQ, and it makes a really excellent weeknight dinner as well. Stop everything and make it now!

I also didn't bother with the oven - pre-toasted the pine nuts in a skillet then while the pasta cooked, I sauteed the pancetta and asparagus in the same skillet, adding the minced garlic in during the last 3 minutes. Drained the pasta then tossed everything together. Nice flavor combination. Even my teenager who isn't much of a fan of lemony dishes liked this one. Will definitely make again.

Delicious! You can even omit the salt if you get good Italian Pancetta. I swapped the noodles for All wheat vegetable rotini. Will make again!

This is delicious! I will definitely make it again and share the recipe with others. I followed a couple of the review suggestions and did not use the oven- set aside the pine nuts after toasting in a nonstick pan, then browned the pancetta and the garlic (I don't like it raw) in the same pan. My husband happily enjoyed cold leftovers the next day.

My husband and I loved this recipe! He ate about 2/3 of the whole batch and requested it again!!! I roasted the asparagus, pine nuts, and pancetta all in the same pan - very easy, little clean up, and a quick meal.

I found this recipe last minute and just happened to have all the ingredients on hand, other than the pancetta. I had a prosciutto/mozzarella roll that I used in place of it and it was fabulous! It was really easy to make and pretty foolproof. I made it all according to the recipe but added garlic to the lemon sauce. My husband and daughters loved it. This is going in my recipe book.

One of the best cooking light recipes I've made. Made it exactly as directed and it was delicious. No crazy ingredients either which is good for my picky family.

This was delicious! I did not make this according to the recipe. I dry roasted the pine nuts in a large pan & set aside. In the same pan I sautéed the asparagus & pancetta while I made the pasta. I added all the other ingredients to the pan (along with the pasta), tossed everything together, then topped with cheese & pine nuts. This is a keeper!

Husband and I loved this! Used corkscrew pasta and bacon, as that's what I had on hand. The only major thing I did differently was to saute the garlic in butter and white wine, and then add the contents of the pan to the oil/lemon dressing. Topped with fresh ground black pepper and fresh parsley. Delicious!

Very good.

Really good. My husband and I think this needs a smaller pasta, as all the yummy stuff fell to the bottom. Will definitely make again.

So good and delish especially if you're not a fan of saucy pasta!

Not bad, but this needs some work. I would try again using some of the suggested modifications, but as is, it was kind of blah.

I loved this dish so simple and easy. I followed it exact. When I was done, I did a few extras. I added a little lemom zest, a touch more S & P and a bit more EVOO. We are trying it cold for lunch today. My husband said don't lose that recipe.

I really enjoyed this dish and my family asked for it again, instead of boiling the asparagus i roasted them in olive oil, salt and pepper and added fresh roasted cherry tomatoes for a little added color. I'm not a fan of pancetta so i used smoked bacon instead. Bacon adds a more intense flavor. I love chili flakes so i added some to turn up the heat.

Quick. Easy. Really yummy. Started 1) the water, 2) the pine nuts in a pan on the stovetop and3) got the pancetta in the oven. Made with fresh spinach pasta and steamed the asparagus over the cooking pasta in a bamboo steamer. This method made it a 25 minute recipe at the most.

Excellent! May want to sauté the garlic first.

My husband and I both loved this dish!

Really good. Kids love it too. Must use the pancetta or will be bland.

I am really surprised by all these strong reviews. We found this dish extremely bland. Terribly unexciting, don't think we'll make again.

My family LOVES this recipe!! Its one of our favorites! We make it all the time and its a definite staple in our house and its so quick and easy! Although, I usually just ust bacon instead of the pancetta because its what I have on hand. We ust eat it by itself.

Since there are only two of us, it was nice to find a recipe that used asparagus in a little different way. Followed the recipe exactly, and it came out perfectly. Proscuitto definitely works in place of pancetta; I've used both.

Way too salty for my taste

A family favorite! Even with the kids.

Made to recipe. Prepped nuts, pancetta and the white bean spread in the morning so everything came together really fast at dinner. Served with romaine & tomato salad and the recommended thyme crostini. Excellent supper, crostini were very good.

Yum! Great flavor! Living in the middle of nowhere, I had to use pre-cooked bacon, but even with that, it had great taste! Used gemelli instead of cavatappi pasta. Husband and kids (7 and 5.5 year olds) loved it! The crostini was a nice addition!

This was delicious! Very easy and quick to make. I will have to double the recipe next time, there wasn't enough for seconds!

Excellent and easy. Fresh and light. Like other reviewers, I toasted the pine nuts and then cooked the pancetta on the stovetop. Added red pepper flakes, too. YUM!! And, hello!! Pancetta!!!!! Everything is better with bacon!

My whole family really enjoyed this recipe. The only thing that might have made this recipe even better would be to double the pancetta but then I don't suppose it would belong in a Cooking Light magazine then. I took the advice to cook the pancetta in the microwave between paper towels. Very quick and easy.

I altered this recipe just a tad. Instead of pine nuts, I used a grilled boneless skinless chicken breast. I doubled the recipe so I would have a good lunch the following day. Little did I know that my extraordinarily picky son and his girl friend would like it as much as I did. I had no lunch for the next day. I will be making this again many times over. It's simple, quick and dirties very few pans.

WOW! I would love it! But my husband doesn't like anything that even looks like macaroni! Also, bread should not be served with a pasta dish; add a wonderful salad instead.

I have to say I would make this again. The really fun part was trying to go through my refrig and see what I already had. I used Ricciolli past (thin curls) white asparagus and Canadian bacon. For the cheese I used feta and then followed with lemon juice, olive oil and S&P. I have no idea what the calorie count was but listen I work in the evenings and with three teenagers I need quick, easy and something I can go with!

This was fantastic, lot of flavor and so easy. Next time will put in more pine nuts. Couldn't wait to have the leftovers for lunch the next day. A definite repeat.

good stuff, especially for an easy meal.

I'd cut back on the lemon juice next time; I added in chicken broth as it was too dry.

this recipe was so easy and so delicious. I did the pine nuts and the pancetta in a cast iron skillet instead of the oven. When the pasta was about 2/3 cooked I poured some of the pasta water into the cast iron skillet then added the pasta and asparagus. The fat from the pancetta coated the pasta so you didn't really need the olive oil. I also added about 1/4 cup of white wine, dash red pepper flakes, and 1/2 c. cut up cherry tomatoes. I let it all simmer about 5 minutes to finish cooking the pasta. delish!

Was not very flavorful unless you got a bite with every garnish (nuts, cheese, meat). Was easy, but needs tweeking.

This was yummy. I substituted bow tie pasta and used prosciutto instead of pancetta and it was good!! The asparagus was perfectly cooked. No pine nuts for me though. It sort of ended up more like a pasta salad at the end since I let it sit and chill, but I'll definitely be making it again!! :)

Loved it! I made it for my boyfriend and sister and they loved it too. My sister and I are picky eaters but it still passes the test. I used prosciutto instead of pancetta and it tasted great. Will make again.

Awesome! I use prosciutto instead of pancetta, but bake it the same way then crumble. Love the flavor with the asparagus, pine nuts, and parmesan.

Absolutely fabulous--just made it for the second time. It was my husband's Father's Day choice for dinner. He loved it the last time I made it, and once again it was a hit.

Great for a weeknight. I left out the pine nuts and opted for bacon. Yummy!

My husband and I thought that this recipe was really great. I made this a little faster by toasting the pine nuts on the stove, and microwaved bacon (which was a great substitute for the pancetta). The flavors were great and we will definitely make this again.

My wife raved about the recipe. Rather delicate flavors, nothing overpowering. Unless you're a purist, I'm not sure that you couldn't substitute thinly-sliced bacon for the more expensive pancetta without changing the flavor appreciably.

This is definitely a solid, weeknight recipe. I only had 1/2 lb asparagus from the garden, so I added a couple handfuls of frozen peas to compensate. I toasted the pine nuts under a low broiler, then did the same with the pancetta. My husband and 15 month old son had seconds.

This was delicious and fast. I agree with one of the reviews that it is very adaptable to what's in your pantry - which I love! I omitted the pinenuts, only because I was out, and I added a dash of red pepper flakes. It was outstanding, and good cold for lunch too! This is definitely added to my weeknight rotation.

We have all really enjoyed this dish. Very simple to make. This time I added snap peas and fresh cherry tomatoes. The tomatoes added a wonderful taste. Also made the white bean crostini's. So tasty. This is easily an everyday meal. Very little prep. I did what others recommended and toasted the pine nuts on the stove as well as the pancetta. Saved time and less mess. Can't wait to make this again!

Fabulous! Easy + tasty = something we'll make again and again! Make a double batch - you'll want extra. I made it one night and then served it to guests several nights later because we loved it so much. Served with a chilled Sancerre and it was delish.

Another CL recipe that you can adjust to fit what's in your pantry. Used whole wheat penne and added roasted cherry tomatoes to the sauce. Agree with others that stovetop is the way to go for roasting pine nuts and pancetta: way less smoke! I make something similar to this with whatever I have on hand, but usually don't add lemon and/or oil until the end, after I've tasted to see what, if anything it needs. Hubby likes red pepper flakes w/ most pasta dishes, so he added a little, but doesn't need it.

I thought this recipe was 5 stars. My husband said it should get 2 stars. He said there were "too many flavors" and he didn't like the pine nuts at all. I thought it was DELISH and kept saying "yum" with every other bite. I thought the flavors melded perfectly. I'll make this again, maybe for a girl's night or when Hubby's out of town.

I bought diced prosciutto accidentally and it worked out quite well... I doubled the recipe, therefore I used more of the oil/lemon juice liquid. My family really liked this recipe and it will fit into our rotation! Next time I will add more asparagus to increase the yield. This recipe would also be great with grilled shrimp added!

This was a delicious, easy to do recipe. I'm not sure we would serve it to company, but as a family dinner, it was outstanding. We had a few sugar snap peas from the garden, so added them to the recipe. To the person who forgot the garlic - it may have tasted OK without the garlic, but try it with the garlic!

This was AMAZING! I forgot the garlic, and will probably not add it next time since it was so good without it. I substituted turkey bacon for the pancetta. I also found whole wheat cavatappi pasta in the organic section of my chain super market.

Great weeknight dinner. Easy and fast to prepare and extremely tasty.

Really good. I didn't have pine nuts on hand so used walnuts (which no one liked), so next time I'll skip the nuts altogether and add a bit more of the cheese. I also used whole wheat penne and turkey bacon, and doubled the black pepper, and it was great. My two picky boys gobbled it up and even said it was yummy. This is a keeper for fresh springtime asparagus.

This was delicious. My partner looked at the recipe and then looked at the dish and was decidedly unexcited. But, after tasting, he volunteered that it would be good enough to serve at our dinner club and that the recipe was especially good because it had overcome his prejudice that this was going to be one of my "healthy dishes." Changes: I dry roasted the pine nuts in a skillet, removed, then cooked the pancetta over low heat in order to cut back on the dishes and time . I salted the pasta water, but reduced the salt in the recipe by half. I erred and added 2 T of olive oil, instead of the 2 teaspoons, but, since it was so good, I don't think I'd back off the oil when I make it again.

A great quick dinner and great as leftovers for lunch. Add the pine nuts to each serving to keep them from getting soft if you have leftovers. Instead of crisping the pancetta in the oven crisp in the microwave like bacon between sheets of papertowel, this will keep you from buring it.

I found out I didn't have pinenuts and used walnuts instead - it was fantastic! I also used campanelle instead of capatavvi. Still really good. My husband commented on how much he liked it.

You have to take a bite of everything in the dish in order to get the excellent taste.. the sauce is kind of bland when you only have a bite of pasta.. This is the only reason I am giving it 3 stars.. because you need everything on your fork at once.. otherwise.. it's delicious.

This was a loser. The flavors didn't congreal at all. Very bland.

Liked it very much. 7 yr old and husband enjoyed too. great meal for sunday night. Would not serve of special occasion but can see why others would say too. No changes. Did not have anything else with the dish.

I thought this was good- not drop dead fantastic- thus the 4 stars. I used bacon in place of pancetta. However, we LOVED the white bean crostini and I'll definitely make that again.

Great recipe pretty easy and very light. Would be a great recipe for summer.

Loved this dish. I went by what the recipe called for and it was delicious. I even did the white bean toasts which I will keep as an appetizer.

My family gobbled this up. The smashed white bean bread was a hit as well. I subbed low sodium bacon for Pancetta and toasted cashews for pine nuts. I also used Pecorino Romano since I had it on hand. All YUM!

My family loved this recipe. My hubby and kids all cleared their plates (which is unusual for the kids). The only change to the recipe that I made was to the type of pasta. I couldn't find the pasta that the recipe called for, so I swapped it out for a different (but similar) kind of noodle.

Loved this! I used bacon because I didn't have pancetta and it was wonderful. Even better the next day! I added more shaved parm, heated up, and it satisfied like mac n cheese.

My family and I loved this! Like other reviewers, I will also cook the pancetta on the stovetop next time. I used a 12-oz. box of cavatappi, so I added more pine nuts than the recipe calls for, and I doubled the lemon juice mixture. I also made the white bean and thyme crostini suggested in CL magazine, and I threw the rest of the can of cannellinis in with the pasta. This was delicious as leftovers too. I served it alongside grilled garlic and herb chicken breasts. I will definitely make this again.

I really loved this dish! Even though it was pasta and cheese the lemon made it seem very light and fresh. Instead of using the oven I toasted the pine nuts in a dry non stick skillet, removed them and then cooked the pancetta. I didn't find cavatappi so used small elbow macaroni. This is a really easy and quick meal to make.

This dish was fast to make and my family loved it. It is both light and flavorful. Next time I'll toast the pine nuts in a pan and also saute the pancetta in a pan (lots of smoke coming out of the oven!). I will definitely make this one again and again for the busy weeknights, but I also thought it was special enough to serve to company - it doubled easily. I was out of Parm so used Asiago instead and it still was great. I can see using other veggies and bacon if I'm out of one of the ingredients or just to change it up a bit.