Asparagus Recipes... pasta

Part of this blog is supposed to be about what we (I) cook as the vegetable garden is harvested! We're already past one crop and I haven't posted a recipe yet... sorry!

The asparagus was delightful... I picked about a pound a week, which was just perfect. I kept most of it and passed a few spears along to willing recipients. Really - if you have a spot for asparagus, it's 100% worth it. The first year is a little work as you slowly have to fill in the trenches, but after that it's a very easy crop. Refer to this post about planting and growing it. I have had no problems with pest and disease, which is partly because it comes so early in the season. How can you beat picking fresh asparagus once a week for 6 weeks!

We made a few new recipes using the asparagus which I will post over the next few days. This is one of my favorites: Pasta with asparagus & pancetta. I've adapted it from a few recipes that I've seen around - the main inspiration from a recipe out of Bon Appetit sometime in the spring of 2010.

12 oz pasta - shells or something absorbs yummy sauce!
3 oz pancetta, diced
1 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces on the diagonal
2 cups of peas - fresh shelled or frozen
1 bunch scallions, white & lt green parts thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup Parmesan or Romano, plus extra for serving
1/2 cup of ricotta
3 tbspns olive oil
3 tbspns fresh lemon juice
zest from one lemon
1/4 cup of fresh parsley or tarragon is good with this too

 To cook ingredients: 

• Cook pasta according to directions, drain, reserve 1 cup of water and put pasta back into pot.
• Heat 12 inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook pancetta until nice and crispy; remove with slotted spoon to a bowl. 
• Add asparagus to pan, saute for 3 mins. Add peas & scallions, cook for about 2 mins. Add garlic until fragrant, 30 secs. Remove from heat. 

To assemble:

• Add vegetable mixture to pasta in the pot, about a 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water, 1/2 cup of cheese, olive oil, lemon juice & lemon zest. Mix together and season liberally with salt & pepper. Add ricotta by the spoon full and mix to desired consistency, thinning with more pasta water as needed. Add fresh herbs and 2/3 of pancetta. Transfer to serving plates and sprinkle with remaining pancetta and cheese. 

This is the delicious dish you will have!

 ** This pasta is easy and great to make throughout the summer as more vegetables come in. You could use summer squash, cook it until there is still a little crunch left. Add peppers, eggplant and anything else you have! I'll post as we use this pasta recipe with other vegetables.