Creamy Artichoke and Charred Scallion Pasta

By Carolina Gelen

Updated June 20, 2025

Creamy Artichoke and Charred Scallion Pasta
Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Brett Regot.
Total Time
30 minutes
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Rating
4(96)
Comments
Read comments

For a comforting, veg-forward meal, this recipe transforms dozens and dozens of charred scallions into a cheesy pasta dish. Through charring, fresh scallions transition from sharp and savory to smoky, mild and sweet, creating the perfect flavor foundation for a pasta sauce. To speed up the charring process, start with a smoking-hot pan, oil-coated scallions and a grill press or skillet to weigh down the scallions and increase surface contact. For additional body and texture, meaty canned artichokes are stirred with the pasta, along with fresh lemon zest and juice to brighten. A shower of Parmesan at the end will lead to an irresistibly silky, creamy sauce.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 50scallions (6 or so bunches), root ends trimmed
  • 2tablespoons avocado oil, sunflower seed oil or grapeseed oil
  • 1pound gemelli, fusilli or other short pasta
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 2(14-ounce) cans quartered artichoke hearts, drained and halved
  • 2lemons, zested and juiced (about ¼ cup juice)
  • 1½ cups/6 ounces finely grated Parmesan
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

813 calories; 20 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 125 grams carbohydrates; 20 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 40 grams protein; 1345 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high.

  2. Step 2

    Heat a large, heavy skillet (preferably castiron) over medium-high until smoking. Drizzle the scallions with the oil and toss to coat. Add all the scallions and weigh them down using a grill press or smaller pot to increase surface contact. Cook for 10 minutes, tossing every 3 minutes or so, until the scallions have significantly reduced in volume, softened and developed dark char marks all over. Transfer the charred scallions to a cutting board.

  3. Step 3

    Add the pasta and a big pinch of salt to the boiling water, and cook until al dente, which is often about 3 minutes less than what the packaging calls for.

  4. Step 4

    While the pasta cooks, coarsely chop the cooled scallions.

  5. Step 5

    Reserve 2 cups of pasta water and drain the pasta. Transfer the drained pasta to the pot and season with a few cracks of pepper.

  6. Step 6

    Stir in the scallions, artichokes, lemon zest and lemon juice. Sprinkle with the Parmesan, drizzle with 1 cup pasta water, then vigorously stir over medium heat until the sauce becomes glossy and creamy. Add more pasta water and salt, if needed, and serve right away.

Ratings

4 out of 5
96 user ratings
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Comments

Clark

Thoroughly enjoyed this dish. The charred scallions combined with the brightness of the artichokes and lemon was delicious. Already looking forward to having the leftovers tomorrow night!

hannah

This was a huge hit with my scallion loving friends! A tip I recommend: use kitchen scissors to cut the scallions! The cooled scallions were slipping all over the cutting board when I used a knife and the scissors were much easier and more effective.

Erik

I cooked this for the first time tonight. I made the mistake of adding in the Parmesan cheese at the same time as the scallions, artichokes, lemon zest and lemon juice. I should have mixed the other elements into the pasta first, which is in fact how the directions are written. The parmesan cheese was a gloppy mess. Don’t make my mistake! Adding the Parmesan after everything else is already mixed in appears to be important. Regardless, the flavors of the dish were perfect for summer.

Andy

Whatever one thinks of their "smoky flavor," a bunch of scorched-up scallions are just too slimy to be any good. I also made this according to recipe. Not a keeper.

Reb 'n Seb

We like the idea of the flavour combo but the end result was very acidic. For the amount of parm added, we still missed some creaminess to cut through the lemon and vinegary artichokes. Next time we would: -cut the lemon in half -cut the parm in half (or even less) -add some grilled zucchini for a bit of extra sweetness & veg -add a dollop of ricotta on top once plated I also already reduced the amount of scallions off the bat when I made this because it seemed like a ridiculous amount but they did shrink down significantly. Next time I would be braver and add in more but still maybe not as much as called for.

Dick n Betsy

We won’t fix this again…. We took advice of others and punched up recipe to get more flavor but still were disappointed. Firstly, anybody who can do the prep for this in 5 minutes is doing something much different than the recipe calls for. Secondly, the recipe as written has very little flavor. Even with adding garlic, green olives, cherry tomatoes and lots of fresh ground black pepper the recipe was bland. Our verdict: not worth the effort.

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