Tagliatelle with White Asparagus
Servings: for four
Once in a while, I find good recipes by Rowley Leigh in the Financial Times. This recipe is actually very easy to make but all the shaving and grating make it a little tedious. The reward is great though. The pasta is softly perfumed by the delicate fragrance of the white asparagus which left me sniffing while draining the pasta and asparagus.
I know it doesn’t look much but it is delicious. The dish is a medley of spiciness from pepper and Parmesan with the softness of the pasta and crunch of asparagus. Do use Tagliatelle which I find to be the most tender of all pasta and thus matches well with the fine asparagus ribbons.
I served this dish as a light dinner with mixed green salad. This time round, accompanied only by plain tap water with a slice of lemon.
Original recipe is here.
Ingredients:
400 g white asparagus
300 g tagliatelle
50 g unsalted butter
50 g grated Parmesan Reggiano
Directions:
Peel the asparagus as directed below.
Slice the spears on a mandolin (I used the same swivel peeler) thus producing long, thin ribbons no more than 2 mm thick.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and add the tagliatelle. Following the precise directions on the packet regarding the cooking time cook the tagliatelle, adding the asparagus exactly 2 minutes before the pasta is due to be cooked. Drain pasta and asparagus together.
Melt the butter in a pan and return the pasta and asparagus, turning them together. Season with salt if necessary, and milled black pepper and serve, taking the cheese to the table.
Peeling the asparagus: Laying the asparagus flat on a board and holding the tip between thumb and forefinger, peel the stalks with a swivel peeler, always directing the peeler away from the tip, leaving three or four cm of the tip untouched. Rinse briefly in cold water.
