Cheese Ravioli with Creamy Lemon Asparagus Sauce

Spring Green Ravioli

This cheese ravioli with asparagus in a lemony, asparagus cream sauce is a perfect addition to your Spring cooking. It’s a super quick meal to make, yet is full of bright lemon and asparagus flavor. The fresh asparagus comes in two ways, both boiled in the ravioli and sauteed and blended into the cream sauce. It makes for a really fun pasta recipe that’s full of Spring-y green!

The Supplies

Ingredients

To make this cheese ravioli with asparagus cream sauce, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Olive oil
• Unsalted butter
• Shallot
• Garlic
• Asparagus
• Heavy cream
• Grated parmesan cheese
• Lemon juice and zest
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Fresh basil
• Cheese ravioli

For the exact ingredient amounts, check out the recipe card at the bottom of this page.

Equipment

In order to make this cheese ravioli with lemon asparagus cream sauce, you’ll need the following pieces of equipment:

• Large pot
• Large frying pan
• Cutting board and knife
• Liquid measuring cup
• Wooden spatula
• Colander
• High speed blender

Frequent Recipe Questions

Can I make this recipe ahead of time?

• A: This dish is best served right after making it.

What should I serve this ravioli dish with?

• A: This dish is great with a side of Lemon Chicken or a simple green salad. 

How do you best trim the hard ends off the asparagus?

• A: The easiest way to trim the ends off the asparagus is to grab the asparagus on both ends and gently bend it in the middle. Where the asparagus stalk naturally bends and breaks is the point where the stalk ends and the vegetables begin. Discard the hard end of the stalk and keep the soft top for cooking with.

Recipe Tips

When you make this cheese ravioli with asparagus cream sauce, here are a few tips to make sure it turns out delicious:

• Depending on the time of year and source of your asparagus, there’s a wide variety in thickness you can purchase. If the asparagus is on the thicker side, you can boil them in the water for an additional minute before adding the ravioli, to ensure they’re cooked all the way through.
• To make sure each bite of ravioli is sauced, I like to layer the ravioli with the sauce as I plate it. Place about half of the ravioli you’d like to serve onto a plate, then top with some of the sauce. Add the remaining ravioli and top with additional sauce before garnishing with extra parmesan cheese and black pepper.

Recipe Details

Start the Lemon Asparagus Cream Sauce

To get this recipe started, you’ll first set a large pot of water to boil and set a large frying pan over medium heat. In the warmed frying pan, you’ll melt a large knob of butter with a glug of olive oil. Once the butter has melted, scrape the minced shallot into the pan. Saute the shallot for a couple minutes, stirring often. To the softened shallots, add the minced garlic and asparagus. Saute the asparagus, shallots, and garlic, for another couple minutes. 

Once the asparagus and aromatics have softened, turn the heat under the frying pan to low. Pour the heavy cream and the lemon zest into the frying pan. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, then stir to combine everything together. Let the sauce warm for a couple minutes and then set aside.

Boil the Ravioli and Finish the Sauce

Once the sauce has been started, add the remaining half of the asparagus and cheese ravioli to the pot of boiling water. Boil the ravioli and asparagus for a few minutes, until the asparagus is fork tender and the pasta is cooked through. Save a cupful of the pasta water before draining the ravioli into a colander in the sink. Set the ravioli aside while you finish the asparagus cream sauce.

To finish the sauce, carefully transfer the cream sauce from the frying pan to a high speed blender. To the blender, add the fresh basil, lemon juice, grated parmesan, and a bit of the reserved pasta water. Blend the sauce on high until it’s smooth, letting any steam ventilate as the blender runs. Thin the sauce, if needed, with additional reserved pasta water.

To serve this pasta dish, divide the cheese ravioli among plates or transfer them to a large serving plate. Pour the lemon asparagus cream sauce over the top of the ravioli. Serve this dinner with extra grated parmesan cheese and freshly cracked black pepper over the top. Enjoy!

Do you love Spring asparagus recipes? Be sure to check out these other dishes:

If you make this cheese ravioli with asparagus cream sauce, be sure to leave a comment or give this recipe a rating – I can’t wait to hear how it goes. As always, tag me on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook in your photos. It makes me feel like we’re getting to cook together!

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