Friday, April 22, 2011

Sausage and Farfalle


I saw this package of Johnsonville smoked chicken sausages with cheese and chipotle peppers and decided it had to go in the shopping cart. So then last night while surveying the contents of the fridge, I pulled out the last 5 stalks of asparagus and the last of the sliced portobella mushrooms and started cooking. Olive oil in the pan with two smashed garlic cloves. Rinse the asparagus well to get rid of any sand. The secret to asparagus is to hold the bottom of the stalk and then gently snap. The break will come so that the woody part is gone and only the tender part remains. Sometimes just a little comes off and sometimes a lot longer piece.

Growing up, my mother would make us eat the whole thing and I hated asparagus. A child of the depression, she could not bear to throw any food away...woody broccoli stalks came to the table too!

Diagonally cut the asparagus and toss it in the pan. Cook until "crisp tender" (starting to get soft but still bright green). Add the mushrooms. Slice sausages and add to pan. Meanwhile I cooked some mini farfalle. Really cute mini bowties from Barilla. Drain the pasta reserving about 1/4 cup of cooking water. Add pasta to the pan. Then add two tablespoons of homemade pesto which I keep in the freezer. Then add enough of the pasta water to make it "saucy".

Serve with grated parmesan.
Mmmm...there were even leftovers for lunch the next day!