Asparagus in a Pasta Blanket
This past week on Top Chef, Dana Cowin was asked to name 3 “food trends” that she thought were past their prime and that she wished would just die. I thought she was going to name fad things like the cronut, cupcakes, or tasting menus, but instead her answers were: Bacon, Kale, and Topping things with an Egg. WHAT??? Was she confused by the question? Did she think she was asked to name 3 of the most delicious things around? Anyways, I’ve been wanting to wrap asparagus with fresh pasta sheets like this for a while, and I finally got around to it this weekend. The egg topper was just the perfect thing, and the whole thing came out absolutely spectacular and the best thing I have made in quite some time.
Cut the asparagus into equal logs.
Such a beautiful vegetable.
Cut the pasta into rectangles to wrap around the asparagus. But let’s take a minute to build the sauce.
Ground pork and onions in the pot.
Get it nice and browned.
Butter, garlic, paprika, and thyme.
Lemon juice and some juice from the pepperoncini jar finish the sauce. Turn off the heat and let it sit until the pasta is ready.
Oh, hello awesome pasta.
Boil for 3 minutes until the pasta is cooked and the asparagus becomes slightly tender but still has a nice bite to it. Then put it directly into the sauce with a nice ladle full of the pasta water.
Then just pop that egg on top!
As I said earlier, this was absurdly good. Way better than I expected, and I expected it to be good!
I was a little worried that the asparagus would fall out of the pasta as it cooked, but it was actually pretty tight.
And the yolk really brought everything together.
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Asparagus in a Pasta Blanket
Ingredients
- fresh pasta from linked recipe
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 1/3 pound ground pork
- 1/2 onion sliced
- 2 cloves garlic sliced
- 1/2 stick butter
- 1 Teaspoon fresh thyme
- 1 Teaspoon paprika
- 1 lemon Juice
- 2 tablespoons pepperoncini juice or banana pepper Juice
- a fried egg for the topping
Instructions
- Cut your asparagus into about 2 inch pieces. You should get 2 pieces per asparagus before it starts getting woody.
- Roll out your pasta to a medium thickness on the pasta roller. Cut the pasta into rectangles and roll up the asparagus in the pasta as pictured, so that the ends stick out. The pasta should be wrapped so that the pasta dough is double layered.
- Meanwhile make the sauce. About 1/3 a pound of ground pork and half an onion, sliced thin go into the pan. Cook to brown nicely, about 10 minutes. Add in 2 cloves sliced garlic and half a stick of butter. About 2 minutes later, toss in 1 tablespoon each of fresh thyme and paprika. Add in the juice of one lemon and 2 tablespoons of pepperoncini juice (any vinegar will do if you don't have a jar of pepperoncini or banana peppers). Remove from heat.
- Boil the asparagus pasta for about 3 minutes in a nicely salted water. Move the pasta from the water directly to the sauce, and add 1 large ladle full of the pasta water. Stir gently so as not to dislodge the asparagus from the pasta. Serve with an egg on top
I am absolutely trying this pasta. Asparagus and fresh pasta are two of our favorite things! Thanks for this!
-Katharine
livingsaseasyas312.blogspot.com
That looks absolutely amazingly delicious! Must make it.
Bacon should never die. And these look amazing! I brought my pasta maker up from the basement, but I still need to find time to start using it again. I have a few different pasta things I want to make. And now add these to the list!
I can’t describe how delicious this. Bought some fresh rolled pasta from the store so it was super quick. Will definitely make again the next time I want to impress the pants off someone. Thank you!!!