Pasta with Asparagus
Ingredients
Asparagus
EVOO
Salt & pepper
Pasta of your choice
Grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano
Instructions
Spring and early summer are asparagus season! When I know a food is in season, I try to eat a lot of it. And lately asparagus has made an appearance at dinner more than once a week. Like most vegetables you can add asparagus to any starch, like pasta or rice and it becomes a meal.
Asparagus Prep:
Take one or two from the bunch and start to bend the end until you find the spot where it naturally breaks off. Continue that way or you can line them all up and pretty much eyeball where to cut the remaining stalks. After removing the ends you could also peel off a few layers to ensure you don’t bite into any hard pieces of the stem.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place asparagus on a lightly oiled baking sheet then cover with sea salt, red pepper, and chopped garlic. Drizzle with more olive oil
Put in oven and cook for about 30 minutes. Use a fork to check the stems after about 20 minutes.
Once they’re cooked put onto a cutting board and cut into smaller pieces.
Add the asparagus to a lightly oiled pan. Then add the pasta by taking it right from the pasta pot.
Add lots of grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano - either one is fine. Toss around (*adding more pasta water if it becomes dry).
Serve it up and enjoy with a nice glass of Rose.
*When making pasta, ALWAYS save some pasta water. My secret is using tongs (for linguine) or a small hand held strainer (for pasta shapes), then I add the pasta right into the sauce or vegetable pan- I rarely use a colander. This way you’ve got lots of pasta water at the ready.