This very green pasta dish is bursting with spring tastes, including peas, asparagus and fresh herbs. Once you have prepared your vegetables, the dish will come together fairly quickly.
How to make Veerwt and Asper tape
Ingredients
- 1 pound (16 ounces) whole grain pasta (conchiglie, orecchiette, shells, fusilli or linguine will work)
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil, plus more for garnish
- 5 shallots, length and length sliced very thin
- 1 pound pencil thin asparagus, woody ends broke and cut into ½-inch slices on the bias
- 2 garlic cloves, minced meat.
- 2 cups of shot fresh or frozen English peas (defrost peas if frozen)
- ⅔ Cup grated Parmigiano reggiano cheese (or regular Parmesan cheese), plus more for garnish
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons of grated lemon zest (from one lemon)
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (less than one lemon)
- 1 cup of roughly chopped mixed herbs (I used flat-leaf Italian parsley, chives and mint, other suggestions include Chervil and Dragon)
- ¾ cup of roasted pine nuts
- Sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Squeeze red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare your vegetables. Then bring a large pot of heavy salted water to the boil over high heat. Cook the pasta for two minutes less than the instructions of the package. Reserve 2 cups of the pasta water and let the pasta drain.
- While the pasta boils, heat the olive oil in your largest frying pan over medium heat. As soon as the oil shines, add the shallots, season with salt and pepper and cook until golden brown (about 5 minutes).
- Add the asparagus and garlic, season with salt and cook until the asparagus knife pendulum and bright green (about 3 minutes). Stir in the peas and cook until the peas are bright green (about 2 minutes).
- Add the drained pasta to the pan together with 1 cup of reserved pasta maker. Throw to coat. Cook until the sauce starts to coat (about 2 minutes). Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the contents to a large serving bowl. Add the cheese and butter and stir to coat. (Add more pasta material if necessary. The sauce simply has to hold on to the pasta.)
- Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, herbs and pine nuts. Taste and set the herbs as necessary (add a pinch of salt, red pepper flakes and/or a dash of lemon juice if desired). Grate some cheese over the top and garnish with freshly ground black pepper and a dash of olive oil. Serve immediately.
