The other day I was staring into my pantry thinking, “what should I make today?” After opening the fridge five or six times and being majorly disappointed that the Keebler elves didn’t visit my fridge, I decided to be creative and create a dish I haven’t had nor seen for some time. I’m that moment it occurred to me Pasta with Asparagus.
As a child, I’d help my parents in their garden. More than once they would send me out to grab a vegetable for dinner. I’m not sure about you but I love fresh carrots. But my parents didn’t love it when I would bring a single carrot to the dinner table… I never grabbed asparagus. That may be because I didn’t like it or because we didn’t grow any. Regardless of the reason, I didn’t eat it often. But today (or rather yesterday) is different! Today is an asparagus day, and not just because my horoscope says so 🙂
Let’s get cracking!!
Pasta with Asparagus
Often when I’ve seen this dish, there is no red sauce. Here is a red sauce version of the classic pasta with asparagus pasta dish. It’s super simple and I’m sure you’ll make it more than once. But for the first time, you’ll need these ingredients:
3 cloves of garlic, diced
½ large red onion, diced
150 grams (⅓ pound) of asparagus, cut into 2 centimeter (~1 inch) pieces
500 milliliters (16 ounces) of passata (plain red sauce)
½ gram (½ teaspoon) of thyme
½ grams (½ teaspoon) of basil
Salt, to taste
To begin, we need to brown the onion and asparagus. So toss them into a pan with some olive oil and let them brown. Once they start to brown, add the garlic. We delay adding the garlic because it browns faster than the onion and asparagus. Burned garlic doesn’t exactly make the world go ’round!
When it all has browned remove the asparagus and set it aside. Now add the passata, thyme, and basil and bring the sauce to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes. We want the flavor to disperse.
Add the asparagus back in and then let the sauce continue to simmer for a few minutes. Now we’re ready to add it to pasta. And with that! We have our pasta with asparagus! Simple and sweet.
Like I said, not a dish I typically eat, but a good one nonetheless. Pecorino or parmesan works beautifully with this dish. Enjoy! Let me know what you think! Buon Appetito!!!
Pasta with asparagus is a delicious classic Italian dish. Though not as famous as the carbonara, lasagna, or the Italian-American alfredo, Pasta with asparagus provides its own unique flavors.
500 milliliters (16 ounces) passata (plain red sauce)
1/2 gram (1/2 teaspoon) thyme
1/2 gram (1/2 teaspoon) basil
salt, to taste
Method
1)
Grill the asparagus: Heat some olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the asparagus and onion and cook until the asparagus begins to brown. Add the garlic and continue cooking until the garlic begins to brown. Remove the asparagus from the skillet and set aside.
2)
Make the sauce: Add the passata (tomato sauce), thyme, basil, and salt to the onion and garlic. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes stirring often. Return the asparagus to the skillet and cook another minute.
3)
Serve: Combine the sauce with pasta, and top the pasta with pecorino or parmesan before serving. Buon Appetito!
