Silvia Colloca's large spiral pasta tossed with prawns, asparagus and spring onion in a quick white wine and lemon sauce. The spirals catch the sauce; the prawns curl tight; the asparagus stays bright green. Italian springtime, on the table in twenty minutes.

The pasta shape matters here. Large spirals (eliche grandi, fusilli giganti, the king-sized version of the standard fusilli) have wide ridges that catch chunky pieces of vegetable and seafood; the inner curl holds the sauce. Substitute conchiglie or rotelle if you can't find large spirals; small fusilli would let the prawns and asparagus slide off.

The spring-asparagus pairing with prawns is the Italian seasonal logic at its most cleanly executed. Both ingredients hit their peak in April and May; both have a sweet, clean flavour that suits a simple white-wine-and-lemon treatment; both cook in under three minutes and benefit from being underdone rather than overdone. Peel the asparagus stalks with a vegetable peeler before cooking (removing the woody outer fibres) so the texture stays tender right through.

The sequence of cooking is the small technique. Asparagus stems first (the harder pieces, blanched briefly in the pasta water), then the tips (just a minute), then both refreshed in ice. The prawns go into the pan with olive oil, garlic and spring onion in the last two minutes only; white wine deglazes the pan and reduces hard; lemon zest and juice stirred in off the heat. Toss the pasta and the asparagus through. Parmigiano grated over the top, a glass of cold Vermentino.