Spring Pasta

 

It’s Asparagus season!  Sadly, the appearance of asparagus is the only sign of spring in Ohio.  Today was an exception, it was warm, breezy (darn right windy by most accounts), and only rained for a little while in the afternoon.  I decided to take advantage of this lovely weather and do some much needed lawn work…heck it could snow tomorrow!  There were a few spots in my yard that needed to be torn up and reseeded…I don’t think this would have been a problem had the ground not been sopping wet, but like I said earlier it could snow tomorrow! So I spent my afternoon gloriously kneeling in mud getting up close and personal with the resident earthworms and ants (they bite!).  After 5 hours I was finished and hungry!  Light headed and stomach growling hungry.  Since it was 4 and a little late for lunch, I decided to have an early dinner (very early by my accounts). How senior citizen of me.   

 
Well back to the point of this post…can you guess what I had for dinner (lunner? dinch?)  Asparagus it is!  After opening a beer (Bells Oberon) I re-entered the kitchen. Hungry as I was, I wasn’t willing to wait very long for nourishment.  Pasta is my go to in these moments.  I love pasta…any and all.  Plain, in sauce, tossed with cheese, etc…Bubba Gump it.  

 

 

Today I used the asparagus I gathered at the store yesterday along with some cherry tomatoes.  I roasted the above mentioned vegetables, and tossed it with some rotini.   Shaved Parmesan finished it off just nicely.  It hit the spot and kept me in a spring state of mind!

 

 

 

 

I put the extra pasta in sealed containers and stored them in the freezer.  Dinner is served for work next week.  Two birds, one stone! (if only the stone could hit the real birds eating the grass seed I put down…I now know the purpose of straw) We will see if it freezes well, however I will eat almost anything at 3am.  

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

• 25-35 stalks of asparagus, bend the stalks until they snap.  Toss the stalks or freeze them and find a use for them at a later date.  
• about 1 pint of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half long ways
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil – 1 Tablespoon for each vegetable
• 3 Cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 basil leaves, cut into ribbons
• 1 lb of pasta ( I used whole wheat rotini, but penne or even spaghetti would work)
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Directions

 

1. Preheat oven to 425°F
2. Bring to boil a large pot of water and liberally salt (should taste like the sea).  If the water isn’t flavored then the pasta won’t be.
3. While water is coming to a boil, snap asparagus, cut tomatoes, and mince garlic.  
4. Toss the asparagus, tomatoes, and garlic in olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Place on baking sheet. Top the tomatoes with ribbons of basil.  I separated the tomatoes from the asparagus on the baking sheet.  Try not to have any veggies overlapping, should be a single layer – ensuring even roasting.
5. Place in oven for 12 minutes.  Asparagus will be tender and tomatoes almost bursting.  
6. Add pasta to boiling water (at about the same time the vegetables go in the oven) and cook until al-dente (normally 8 minutes).  When done, strain.
7. Remove vegetables from oven.  Slice the asparagus into smaller 1-2 inch segments (more bite size).  Place vegetables and the pan juices into a serving dish.  
8. Toss with cooked pasta
9. Finish with Parmesan cheese.

I had made some pesto earlier (will have its own post) and a dollop of that mixed in was especially good.  So enjoy this dish as is or try with some fresh pesto!  Oh and mushrooms would be lovely in this…I will remember that after my next lawn work day.