Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Pasta with Asparagus

Pasta with asparagus

 

At the market, fresh asparagus wrapped in a moist towel were resting a wooden crate. I asked the vendor why he had wrapped the asparagus in a moist towel? "Freshly cut so tender you need not cook them." he added, "Did you know that asparagus is in the oldest surviving book of recipes, the Apicius from the third century?" De re coquinaria, Book III.

"Of course I knew that. Who doesn't?" I laughed.

I love hearing sales-people talk about their jive. 

I bought a kilo of the points d'amour ("love tips").

The town market is two minutes from my front door. The "freshly cut" asparagus went from the moist towel, into my shopping cart, then home, rinsed and sauteed.

I cut the asparagus in to bite size pieces, lightly sauteed them in olive oil and garlic. Then I add cream and freshly squeezed lemon juice until the sauce thickens. I mixed the sauce with the pasta and sprinkled it with Parmesan.

The mason "builder", the person who will reinvent our apartment in Paris, is coming for dinner this Friday to go over final details. Point d'Amour will be one of the dishes served.

Do you have a favorite pasta recipe? 

 

Comments

18 responses to “Pasta with Asparagus”

  1. Marilyn

    I think you recipe could become my favorite quite easily. Yummm! Good luck with the apartment reinvention.

    Reply
  2. Jean

    That sounds and looks delicious! I’ll be trying it as soon as some tender tips poke through the snow.
    I love this (very rich but tasty) Mustard Broccoli Pasta recipe from, “The Tasajara Recipe Book.” The cookbook is an oldie from the 60’s ~ which seems like the 3rd century to my grandgirls. 🙂
    Mustard Butter Broccoli Pasta
    1/2 cup butter
    4 tbsp. Dijon mustard
    2 cloves garlic, finely minced
    Salt and pepper
    Herbs (chives, parsley or green onion tops), about 4 tbsp. total (I love chives)
    2 or 3 cups broccoli florets
    3/4 pound pasta
    Let the butter soften, then mix in the mustard, herbs and pepper. Put the pasta on to boil in salted water. When the pasta is about two or three minutes from being cooked to al dente, throw in the broccoli and stir to let it cook with the pasta. Drain when the pasta is tender and the broccoli is still green. Return to the pot and stir in the mustard-butter mixture to coat. Check for seasonings and serve.

    Reply
  3. Bev

    Heading to the farmer’s market this afternoon and will definately be picking up some asparagus! Yum!

    Reply
  4. Linda Kay

    We have a local restaurant that serves a simple pasta with a lemon sauce that is so good. I wish I had their receipe!

    Reply
  5. Jeannie

    Yum! I live in asparagus growing land. Where I walk everyday, there is wild asparagus growing and I have a few plants that the birds have planted in my yard.(Asparagus has bright red berries in the fall that the birds love and distribute.) My favorite way to cook asparagus is to roast it or grill it. Just a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss it with some pasta, butter, fontina or other hard cheese and maybe some sun dried tomatoes and viola! Dinner!

    Reply
  6. Margaret

    Yummy! We will have to try this (although much to my dismay my daughter does not like asparagus)! While not a pasta dish, last night we had zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, red onion and red bell pepper tossed with olive oil, fresh chopped garlic, seasoned salt and fresh black pepper cooked on the grill – amazing! I could see that going over pasta quite nicely!

    Reply
  7. Laurie SF

    My favorite pasta recipe came via an Italian boyfriend named Carmine. His English consisted of just one word; my name.
    Carmine’s Pasta:
    4-5 very ripe tomatoes, cut in half, squeeze tomato until all seeds are omitted.
    Chop tomatoes, add olive oil and season with sea salt.
    Simmer over low heat 45 minutes.
    Turn off heat and add fresh basil and garlic.
    Toss with penne and top with freshly grated parmesean.
    If you prefer heat, add one chopped serrano pepper or have Italian boyfriend teach you naughty Italian while sauce simmers.
    Long Legs; Gambe Lunghe
    Breats; Seni
    Kiss; Bacio
    That was twenty years ago, and I still use the recipe today. A side note I crossed paths with Carmine just this week. He was painting a neighbor’s fence.

    Reply
  8. Zosia

    Simple and sounds delicious. One of my favourite pasta dishes is similar to what Laurie wrote. I like to add a handful of rucola (rocket) and sometimes, instead of parmesan, clumps of soft cheese, e.g. goat creme cheese.

    Reply
  9. Massilianana

    I love asparagus and your recipe looks simple and delicious.
    My fave pasta recipe comes from a trip to a friend in Italy, in the area of Milano. It is sooo simple. First you have to pick big beautiful fresh sage leaves and sautee them in olive oikl until they become crisp. Then mix them and the olive oil with al dente spaghetti, just add some freshly grinded pepper and parmiggiano reggiano. Enjoy with a glass of dry white slightly sparkling italian wine. Deeeeelish ‘ !!

    Reply
  10. Kathie B

    By sheer coincidence (other than the fact that it’s asparagus season), we had vegetarian Fettucine Alfredo with fresh asparagus just the other night — yummmm!

    Reply
  11. stadtgarten

    I love your recipe! And as I love asparagus, this could become my favorite! Thank you so much, Monika

    Reply
  12. Momof5

    Yum! My favorite is: sautéed garlic in olive oil, add chopped fresh tomatoes in season or canned chopped, fresh basil and lots of capers. Cook till bubbly and serve over any type of pasta with freshly grated Parmesan.

    Reply
  13. monika

    A pasta more or less based on a recipe from The Vegetarian Epicure —
    Sauté medium-finely diced onions (1 large or 2 medium) in olive oil
    Can add finely diced mushrooms (equal amount)
    When the onions and mushrooms are soft, add salt, pepper and red wine vinegar.
    Meanwhile boil pasta (shape of your choice; we like linguine or rotini)
    And
    break up and mix 3 – 4 eggs, and add
    approx 300-400 grams of grated old cheddar cheese
    Drain pasta, toss with vinegared onions, and then toss with egg mixture in pot over warm grate. Adjust for salt, pepper and vinegar, and serve with a green salad.

    Reply
  14. Linda

    We love The Barefoot Contessa’s Pasta with Truffle Butter. It is so quick and simple to fix and yet such an elegant dish and so delicious! We like to saute’ some cremini mushrooms also and toss them into the final dish. The mushrooms are sliced into a nice size. It “beefs up” the recipe as we don’t serve meat with this dish. Maybe a salad to go with it or some of those fresh asparagus that you bought from your fresh market. And of course a nice dessert. Here is the recipe:
    http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/tagliarelle-with-truffle-butter-recipe/index.html

    Reply
  15. Christine

    It’s asparagus season here in So Cal too and I’m in heaven! I cannot consume them quickly enough before they vanish and give way to imports. My list of asparagus recipes is too long to include here but this weekend I’ll be whipping up a quiche with them and ham. Maybe a touch of goat cheese. Next week will be asparagus in risotto with Italian truffle oil (swoon). This is such a delightful time of year. Thank you for the recipe, it will be added to my “must make” list 🙂 Best of luck (and fun) on the apartment renovations!

    Reply
  16. Joanna

    Broccoli sautéed w anchovy over thick spaghetti salt and pepper to taste.

    Reply
  17. 24/7 in France

    Love pasta and love asparagus, so great combo! Off to my local French market to buy some – thanks.

    Reply
  18. Lr

    Delicious recipe Corey!
    I can barely wait every year until the squash flowers begin blooming on tiny squashes. I pick them (squash and all) run into the kitchen where I chop them roughly then toss them into hot olive oil seasoned with a little fresh garlic, where I am sauteing a few grape tomatoes. Add a tablespoon or so butter, a few leaves of parsley and tablespoon or so of fresh oregano. Stir in cooked pasta. Serve!

    Reply

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