Spring Pasta With Asparagus and Peas, Why? Recipe
Fresh asparagus, lovely green peas and a creamy ricotta sauce dress up farfalle for a simple, fresh pasta dish.
I only wish I could find fresh peas but I haven’t even seen them at my favorite vegetable super store.
But peas, along with artichoke bottoms and spinach (only in winter) are part of my freezer staples. I buy them in kilo bags (2.2 lbs) – nothing added, just the naked vegetables.
Spring Pasta With Asparagus and Peas
Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup of peas, fresh or frozen (no butter or sauce)
- 8oz (240gr) asparagus
- 1 1/2 tsp butter
- 1 1/2 tsp flour
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) milk
- 1/3 cup (3oz, 90ml) ricotta
- 1 tbs Dijon-style mustard
- 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
- 1/4 cup (1oz, 30gr) freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 cup (2.8oz, 80gr) dried farfalle pasta
Instructions:
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.
The vegetables:
Trim and roll-cut asparagus into 1″ (2.5cm) lengths. (To roll-cut:
cut the end off at an angle, roll 1/4 turn and slice at the same angle, roll 1/4 and slice, etc. This gives you interesting looking pieces with lots of surface.)
Bring a large saucepan half full of water to a boil. Add asparagus and cook for 3 minutes.
Add peas after 2 minutes.
Drain and pour into a bowl of cold water.
When cool, drain well.
The sauce:
In a small saucepan heat the butter over low heat.
Add flour and stir with a whisk for 1 minute.
Add a little milk and whisk to combine.
Turn heat up to medium and keep adding milk, a little at a time and whisking.
When it’s thick and starting to boil stir in ricotta, tarragon and mustard. Keep warm until needed.
To assemble:
Put drained pasta in a bowl.
Add sauce and toss to combine.
Add vegetables, combine, sprinkle with Parmesan and serve.
I was hoeing today…. which means that my mind was off wandering on its own.
Here are some random thoughts and observations.
In case you haven’t heard, Eurovision, the big European song contest was won by Conchita Wurst of Austria this year…. A drag queen also known as the ‘bearded lady’.
Why are there no drag kings?
Why can females dress as males without garnering the least bit of attention but males dressing as females get rather a lot, both good and bad?
How can my dogs, sleeping outside, hear me unwrapping the butter in the kitchen and be sitting, staring at me before I have a chance to throw the paper away? They like to lick the butter paper. They get very excited about licking the butter paper.
They can also hear anyone opening a yogurt container within a 500 mile radius.
What bright spark took the scent out of roses? One of our dinner guests brought a beautiful bouquet of white roses. A week later they are still perfect…. But not a whiff of fragrance. In the Vendée we had over a hundred rose bushes. One had a lovely scent, the rest none at all. Is that the price of hybrid roses?
Finally….. Why, oh why, were there three centipedes, three BIG centipedes, in our bedroom the other night? Was there a convention I didn’t know about?
Or were they just celebrating spring?
Back to the food…. And people celebrating spring.
I’m submitting this dish to the Four Seasons Food Challenge hosted by Eat Your Veg this month (alternate months hosted by Delicieux ) The theme this month is ‘Celebrating Spring’.
And also to Javelin Warrior’s Made with Love Mondays, a collection of ‘made from scratch’ recipes
Happy Spring!
Last update on May 11, 2014