Trofie with asparagus cream and speck is a simple first course with a rich but delicate taste. A soft asparagus cream envelops the fresh pasta while the speck adds crunchiness and flavor to the dish. For this recipe, I chose fresh trofie, but you can use any short pasta shape you prefer as it works best with this sauce. So, shall we head to the kitchen to prepare the trofie with asparagus cream and speck?
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 25 Minutes
- Portions: 2 servings
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer
Ingredients
For fresh pasta, I consider about double the amount of dried pasta.
- 10.5 oz fresh trofie
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 1.75 oz speck in strips or slices
- 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- to taste hazelnut or almond crumbs
Tools
- 1 Asparagus steamer
- 1 Hand blender Kenwood
- 1 Pasta pot
- 1 Low-sided saucepan
- 1 Small pan
Steps
Clean the asparagus following the procedure you find HERE. Gently wash them, cut them to more or less the same length, and cook them in the asparagus steamer leaving the tips out for 15/20 minutes. I steam them in the vegetable cooker with a little water inside the underlying pot for 10/12 minutes.
Once the asparagus is cooked, cut them into small pieces, keeping a few whole tips aside to decorate the dish, and sauté the stems in a low-sided saucepan or pan with two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Transfer only the asparagus stems to the immersion blender jug and start blending. If the cream turns out too thick, add a little pasta cooking water or the filtered water in which the asparagus was cooked. Transfer the cream to a pan and season with salt.
In a small pan, brown the speck for a few minutes without adding any seasoning. Add the speck to the asparagus cream. Boil the pasta in plenty of salted water, drain, and pour it into the pan with the asparagus. Mix the pasta with the asparagus cream, transfer to plates, and decorate with the reserved asparagus tips and hazelnut or almond crumbs.
Notes
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