Celebrate spring - or any season - with this amazingly simple recipe for lemony-garlic shrimp and asparagus with white bean puree that may find you licking the plate.
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I wish I could adequately describe this shrimp and asparagus recipe to you.
White beans, good. Asparagus, love it. Shrimp, yes. Garlic? Lemon? Yes, yes, it all seems like a nice combination, with the unique addition of the beans.
But I had no idea how good it would be as this came together. No idea.
And then when something that tastes this good, also looks this good - what?
When you plate this up, it looks like something that you'd get at a fancy restaurant. The type where if I saw the waiter bringing this I'd roll my eyes a bit, thinking it's one of those restaurants (you know, the kind that are more into presentation...).
All I would need, though, is one bite to understand that presentation and deliciousness can go hand in hand. And as long as you're a fan of these ingredients like me, you are going to want many bites of this. I promise.
Shrimp and Asparagus with White Bean Puree
As if flavor and presentation weren't enough, how about simple and easy with whole food ingredients?
- Shrimp
- Fresh Asparagus (Seasonal Tip: green beans and snap peas also work well.)
- Onions
- White Beans (cooked, either canned or cooked and frozen)
- Garlic
- Lemon
- Parsley
Add some olive oil, butter, a bit of salt and pepper and maybe a red pepper flake or two and that's the entire recipe right there.
Pretty, yummy, and uncomplicated. It just gets better.
Shrimp and Asparagus with White Bean Puree Steps
This recipe consists of three very quick steps - really.
Step 1: Briefly heat the beans with garlic, lemon juice and water and puree them right in the pan with an immersion blender (you've gotten yours, right?).
If all you have is a regular blender, you'll need to transfer the beans to the blender bowl first, and it works, too, just not quite as conveniently.
Step 2: While that is heating, whisk together the dressing/topping ingredients.
Step 3: The final step is to quickly cook the onions and asparagus until just crisp-tender before adding the shrimp.
Since each step takes just a few minutes it all comes together in about 30 minutes.
To serve, place about 1/2 cup of the pureed beans on a plate, add some of the shrimp-asparagus mixture, and pour part of the dressing over the top. Beautiful.
And prepare to be amazed at your first bite. Really, truly, honestly.
You will want to serve this with a good bread (easy artisan or sourdough artisan are of course our favs) to soak up all the beany-dressing goodness. Again, trust me on this, it's either bread or licking the plate, so make it easy on your family and guests.
You've probably have figured out that I've made this a lot. When asparagus isn't in season any more I make it with with snow peas in later spring, and then green beans in the summer. I even made it once with small scallops. It's all good!
Shrimp and Asparagus with White Bean Puree
Ingredients
- 3-4 cups cooked white beans or about 2 cans
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice divided
- 2 cloves garlic minced and divided
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt divided
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- pinch of red pepper flakes optional
- 1/2 cup water
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 onion cut in half then sliced thinly
- 1 pound asparagus trimmed and cut in 3 to 4 inch pieces*
- 1 pound shrimp peeled and deveined**
Instructions
Beans:
- Place the beans, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper, 1 clove of the minced garlic, an optional red pepper flakes in a medium saucepan. Add 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and puree with a handheld immersion blender (if using a regular blender or food processor, return beans to pan after pureeing). Keep warm over lowest heat.
Dressing:
- Combine the remaining minced garlic clove and 3 tablespoons lemon juice along with 1/2 teaspoon salt, parsley, and 3 tablespoons olive oil in a small glass measuring cup, whisking to emulsify. Set aside.
Vegetables & Shrimp:
- Saute onions in 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil for 3-5 minutes over medium heat.
- Stir in asparagus, cover and cook for about 3-4 minutes just until crisp-tender.
- Add shrimp and cook until they turn pink, 1-2 minutes (pre-cooked shrimp only needs to be heated through).
To Serve:
- Place a quarter of the beans on each of four serving plates and divide the asparagus-shrimp mixture evenly.
- Pour the dressing over the top of each and serve immediately.
Notes
**This also is wonderful with scallops. Cook just the same as shrimp.
Nutrition
Other Seafood Recipes to Try:
Garlic Shrimp and Green Bean Pasta
Baked White Fish with Parmesan-Herb Crust
Note: this recipe was originally published in 2010 and has been updated with all new photos, formatting and printable recipe. Enjoy!
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Norma says
Hi, Jami--
Just love this dish! I prepared it with some of our garden green beans, frozen unblanched using your wonderful technique. I just mashed the cannelini beans with a potato masher rather than puree them as we like that texture better. Such great flavor in the entire dish! This morning we had the bean mash leftover with a fried egg on top for breakfast. Yum! Flavors were even better than last night! Thanks for another great recipe!
Jami says
Oh, I'm so glad you tried this, Norma - sounds yummy with the green beans. And the breakfast idea? Genius!!
Dorothy says
I belong to a cookbook club. We study and sample recipes from a specific cookbook all month, then meet once a month, at a pot luck lunch, with everyone bringing a dish from their experiments.
This month's book was a pizza cookbook, but all the recipes were boring! Who needs another pepperoni pizza? Then I read your shrimp & asparagus with white bean puree and was inspired! I cut the recipe in half and did all the prep work, but spread the bean puree over an unbaked pizza shell. Topped with tender asparagus & onions. Sprinkled on a little parmesan and topped with cooked shrimp. Baked in a hot, hot oven until the topping was bubbly and the crust was golden. OMG! Served with the lemony dressing drizzled on top. I have found my pizza offering for the pot luck Gods! Thank you for the inspiration.
Jami says
Oh my goodness, Dorothy, that is inspired!! What a wonderful sounding adaptation. I will have to try it out. 🙂
Maureen says
This looks delicious! If I had shrimp in the house, I'd make it today. The substitutions sound delicious, too. I will try them all. Thank you.
Jami says
Wonderful - I hope you get a chance to try it soon, Maureen!
Patti says
Hi Jami,
This recipe sounds delicious! I love all the ingredients and am always looking for something new to make with fresh asparagus in the spring. The most surprising this was the beans. I typically go for rice or pasta but this is a nice new twist that I can't wait to try.
Jami says
I know - the beans are so different, though we do love a good bread to sop it up with, so it's not totally low-carb at our house, though it could be. 🙂
Angie Rose says
I find any recipe that involves lemon and garlic my absolute favorite! Something about those flavors make my mouth water. I’m planning on starting an asparagus garden bed this year. I love how it’s a perennial crop, and we have such a short growing season here in New England so it’s perfect. Your recipe looks like something straight from a restaurant! I definitely need to invest in an immersion blender. So many things on my to-do list this year! I bet this would be delicious with scallops as well. I might just surprise my boyfriend with this recipe! Thank you for the delicious ideas and cooking motivation 🙂
Jami says
Go for it, Angie - I think you (and your boyfriend) will love it, too!
Michelle Marine says
Your recipe looks delicious, Jami! And I think I'm about to run off to my garden to see if I have any asparagus peeking up yet!
Jami says
Yes - those first spears are so exciting to see in spring!
Shelly says
This is a delicious meal and for it to be ready in about 30 minutes is great. I can't wait until I find a good deal on asparagus to give this recipe at try.
Jami says
Hope you enjoy it, Shell!
Diane Williams says
Spring recipes like this make me want to get right out there and start in the garden. I can't WAIT until it gets warm enough to harvest our asparagus crop for delicious dishes like this one.!
Jami says
I know! I will have to be satisfied with purchased asparagus this year,though. 🙁 It will be one of the first things I grow in the new place we end up, for sure.
Jill says
So good! I added a handful of flat leaf parsley (since I used white asparagus) and mushrooms then topped with gorganzola!
Jami says
Your additions sound lovely, Jill - thanks for sharing!
Jami @An Oregon Cottage says
Renee: Yeah! Though I don't think anyone in my family would mistakenly call it dessert. 🙂
Renee says
Absolutely amazing! My husband and kids raved about it. David slipped and called it "dessert." So nice when I can make them all that happy!
Rachel says
Love this recipe! Found this link from Kayln's Kitchen. My husband and I ate it up! My 2 year old ate some too. 🙂 We used cannellini beans and we were out of parsley so we used fresh dill instead. Wonderful!
Jenelle says
This looks amazing! I can't wait to tyr it!
Jenelle
dale311 says
This looks super delicious! I love asparagus.
[email protected] An Oregon Cottage says
Sarah- Yes, those were great northern. I did look at the page, and it's good to know the differences, though, I too like them, use all the white beans interchangeably. The great northern's are usually the cheapest white bean in the bulk bins, which is why I buy them. 🙂
Candi- Try this with scallops, or even go out on a limb and try it with chicken pieces. I still think it would be a great flavor!
Jean says
Oh my goodness, Jami - I'm so thrilled that you posted this - it looks lucious and I can't wait to try it. Thanks!
Sarah says
This looks and sounds delicious! We get navy beans from our farmer's market and I wasn't sure if they were the same as the beans you are using.
While trying to figure it out, I found this page comparing different white beans. It looks like you are using great northern beans, right?
Candi says
Wow!!! That looks so good! Now if I could just get the hubs to eat shrimp like that!