Asparagus Penne

Asparagus Penne

You will need-

1 lb penne pasta

4 tablespoons olive oil (extra virgin)

¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, julienned

1 bunch (1 lb) fresh asparagus, remove woody bottom and cut into 1 inch pieces diagonally

1 cup chicken stock

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

1 lb fresh water mozzarella, cubed into ½" pieces

Salt and pepper to taste

These are fresh mozarella pearls.  If you can find them just add them whole or cut in half, otherwise use what you can find and cut into 1/2" pieces.

It's not necessary, but I think it makes the whole dish a little nicer if you cut the asparagus on a diagonal to match the same shape and size as the penne.

"What's the beautiful thing in your hand?",  you say?  Oh, thanks for noticing.  It's my new Shun chef's knife!  I've been day dreaming and looking at them online for over a year now.  And today- I finally bought them!!!  I was proud of myself though, I kept the giggling and excited squealing to a minimum while I was in WS, but I may have done an excited skip when I was safely outside of view of the other people in the store.  I'm in love.... 

Anyways, back to the dish...

Cook pasta according to directions in well salted water.

Meanwhile,

In a large sauté pan put olive oil and sun dried tomatoes and cook over medium heat for a few minutes to let the tomatoes soften and infuse the oil.  (A note here about sun-dried tomatoes- I usually prefer to use sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil or some other liquid.  They tend to be a little milder in flavor and more tender.  The dried kind is fine, but the flavor is much stronger and it turns the chicken broth a darker color.  The ones in these pictures are dry, only because that's what we happen to have in the pantry.  It's just a matter of personal preference.)

Add asparagus and continue to cook over medium to medium-high heat for about 10 minutes.

Add chicken stock, salt & pepper, and continue cooking until the asparagus is cooked through, about another 5 minutes.

Turn off the heat, add the parmesan and stir. Add the cooked pasta to the sauté pan along with the mozzarella. Stir to combine.

 

Serve with a crusty French baguette and enjoy!

(a side note regarding the gorgeous bread in the opening photo- it comes from the best grocery store in the Portland area - New Seasons.  For those of you live in the area you know the wonders of this exquisite, organic, freshly baked on the premises bread.  And it's not just the French bread, they have ciabatta, olive ciabatta, sourdough, rye, whole wheat, and on and on.  If you don't live in the area, you might want to seriously consider moving up here just for this bread!)

Guacamole

Before I start, I wanted to add a note here about my cooking style.  I don't measure, unless I'm baking.  I throw stuff together and measure by site and taste.  So in the process of writing up these recipes I'm having to commit to rough measurements.  Please don't take these as hard-set, play around with it and figure out what measurements work best for you. 

Now onto-

Guacamole!

This is a simple recipe but by far the most requested so I thought it an appropriate choice for my first post.

For about 2 cups of guacamole you will need-

4 medium/large ripe avocados

1/2 medium tomato, finely chopped

2 Tablespoons onion, finely diced

1/2 lime

1 large garlic clove

1/2 heaping teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Chop the avocados and put into a medium mixing bowl.  The easiest way I've found to do this is to cut the avocado while in the skin (but not through the skin) and use a spoon to go along the inside of the skin and scoop it out.  Using a fork, lightly mash up the avocados.  

 

 

 

 Add the onion and tomatoes and mix.  Grate in the garlic, squeeze in the lime and add salt and pepper.  Mix.

 

Check for seasoning and...

Enjoy!