Spring: Spaghetti with Asparagus

comments 4
Pasta / Seasonal
spagh_asp

This dish is simple to make and is perfect for spring. A tip when serving a pasta dish with very little condimento (sauce): make sure you boil the pasta in heavily salted water. It should taste like sea water. And be sure to save some of the cooking liquid to splash into the cooked pasta, as the starch will help the sauce come together. I usually do this dish with leftover asparagus.

Ingredients

1 pound of DeCecco spaghetti
1 bunch of asparagus, roasted with salt and oil in the oven at 400 for 10 minutes, until slightly charred.
4 slices guanciale or pancetta, rough chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
pecorino cheese for grating
olive oil
fresh black pepper

  1. Bring a pot of heavily salted water to the boil, and add spaghetti, stirring to prevent sticking. Do not add anything else to the water or break the spaghetti in half.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet swirl some olive oil in the bottom of the pan and add the guanciale (or pancetta). Turn the heat to medium-high and let the pork render down until slightly crispy. Add in garlic and asparagus, stir to let the garlic get golden, then remove from heat. Add in a splash of cooking liquid from the pasta.
  3. When the pasta is al dente, drain, reserving some cooking liquid. Turn the heat to high on the sauce pan, and add the pasta to it, stirring to soak up the liquid. Add more splashes of liquid if needed.
  4. When the pasta looks shiny and glistening, after a few minutes of stirring, plate immediately. Grate pecorino and grind black pepper to taste.

4 Comments

  1. Jonathan says

    Hot steamy pasta – now that looks amazing. Looking forward to trying this dish out. Thank you!

  2. Mark says

    Hello,

    Do you happen to know where you purchased a bowl like that?

    • JDV says

      Yes, Williams Sonoma. It was a fig bowl series hand made in Italy. If you do some searching on eBay you might be able to find them.

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