Spring Orecchiette Pasta with asparagus, mushrooms, peas and fresh herbs in a light carbonara sauce with dollops of creamy Burrata cheese.
This simple vegetarian Spring Orecchiette Pasta with mushrooms, asparagus, peas and dollops of creamy Burrata cheese is surprisingly light. Fresh herbs and lemon zest give it brightness while the “sauce”, similar to carbonara, gives it richness without the addition of cream, butter or oil. It’s perfect for weeknight meals, coming together in an easy 30 minutes.
The secret to making flavorful pasta is very simple, but nearly always forgotten. You must generously salt the water. These days, I always measure the salt- to- water ratio. It ensures the dish will be flavorful.
For 16 oz of pasta– use 4 Quarts water with 2 Tablespoons salt. Yes it seems like a lot, but remember you won’t actually be consuming all of this. It just flavors the pasta.
In this recipe, once the pasta is just about done, I quickly throw in the peas and sugar peas into the pasta water, to blanch for about 1 minute. Drain.
Another tip to making flavorful pasta dishes, is investing in a good quality Parmesan or pecorino cheese. Pre-grated Parmesan that are in the packages are usually lacking in flavor.
Yes the good quality cheese will cost more, but you will end up using less of it, because of its pungent concentrated flavor.
For this recipe, I used only a half a cup.
Lemon zest gives a little brightness.
One the pasta is plattered, break up bite-sized pieces of the creamy burrata with a fork, and scatter over top along with the fresh herbs and lemon zest.
Spring Orecchiette with Fresh Peas, Asparagus and Burrata
Spring Orecchiette Pasta with asparagus, fresh peas, mushrooms and herbs in a very light carbonara sauce, topped with pillowy burrata cheese.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
- Category: Vegetarian Main
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
4 Quarts water
2 cups fresh English peas ( Trader Joes often carries shucked peas)
2 cups snow peas or sugar peas
1 cup asparagus tips (optional)
1 onion- diced
8 oz mushrooms sliced or quartered -cremini, shittaki, buttons or morrels
2 cups wilting greens- dandilion, arugula, chard, spinach – chopped
generous pinch salt
cracked pepper
2 Eggs
½ cup parmesan or pecorino
1 ball burrata cheese- optional
lemon zest from one small lemon
2–3 tablespoons fresh chopped herbs- mint, dill, or Italian Parsley
Instructions
Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. When water comes to a boil, add pasta and cook to al dente, about 7 minutes ( see directions on package). During the last minute of cooking the pasta, add the fresh peas, sugar peas and asparagus tips to the boiling pasta, turn the heat up to high and quickly blanch for one minute. Drain the pasta and veggies ( reserving 1 cup hot pasta water). Do not rinse. Return to the pot, turn heat off.While the water is heating, cook the mushrooms and whisk the eggs.
Once the pasta is drained and back in the pot, gradually stir in 3 tablespoons of the reserved hot pasta water, one tablespoon at a time into the eggs, to temper the eggs ( to warm them up). Stir well.
Pour egg/water mixture over the pasta and with a big wood spoon, gently stir to coat the pasta. Stir in ⅓ cup fresh grated parmesan, cracked pepper and more pasta water as need to loosen the pasta and make it “saucy”. Taste and adjust salt. Place on a platter or bowl and sprinkle with fresh herbs, lemon zest and remaining parmesan. Dot with dollops of burrrata.
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Penny says
March 20, 2014 at 1:27 pmI have to say that this post evokes Spring in the best possible way. Every photo that you posted is a work of culinary art. The recipe is delightful. Thanks for the ratio of pasta, water and salt. I always salt my pasta water, but appreciate the specific amounts.
Sylvia Fountaine says
March 25, 2014 at 4:25 pmThanks Penny!
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
March 21, 2014 at 1:59 amThis is so gorgeous, love all the spring greens and the burrata, of course!
Sylvia Fountaine says
March 25, 2014 at 4:25 pmI love burrata too!. Thanks for visiting.
Ksenija @ With An Open Mind says
March 21, 2014 at 5:28 pmYour beautiful food photography gives me goosebumps! Plus orecchiette are my all time favorite pasta. Cannot wait to read through more of your recipes.
Sylvia Fountaine says
March 25, 2014 at 4:26 pmWelcome to the blog and thanks for visiting!
Food Wine Thyme says
March 25, 2014 at 1:14 amThis dish screams Spring. It looks perfect
cubic zirconia Swarovski says
March 26, 2014 at 6:38 amIt is a informative post , thanks for sharing
Anonymous says
March 28, 2014 at 9:35 pmDo you have nutrition details for this dish?
Sylvia Fountaine says
April 18, 2014 at 10:31 pmI’m sorry I don’t.
Anonymous says
April 16, 2014 at 9:02 pmAre there any suitable substitutes for the burrata?
Sylvia Fountaine says
April 18, 2014 at 10:32 pmInsalata Ricotta ( a firm ricotta), fresh mozzarella, goat cheese, or feta.
Nicole says
March 15, 2016 at 3:13 pmHi there! Is there an alternative sauce that I can make which would compliment this?
Sylvia Fountaine says
March 17, 2016 at 7:35 amIm having a hard time coming up with one…play around with it and see if you can! Are you vegan?
Natasha says
June 19, 2016 at 9:17 amI love orecchiette, but I’m now gluten free. Do you have an alternative pasta suggestion? Penne, rigatoni, shells?
Sylvia Fountaine says
June 19, 2016 at 2:28 pmSub any GF pasta you like ?
Natasha Pinney says
June 20, 2016 at 10:01 amThank you! I just picked up my burrata at our gourmet grocer. I’m making this tonight. ?
Edina Molnar says
March 6, 2018 at 6:17 pmDid anyone who commented made this recipe? I think that this recipe is poorly written. 2 Tablespoon of salt in the cooking water? When do I need to add the mushroom onion mixture?
Sylvia Fountaine says
March 6, 2018 at 10:52 pmEdina, thanks, I fixed the recipe, it was an older one that desperately need editing. 🙂