Friday, April 21, 2017

PAPPARDELLE with LEMON & ASPARAGUS - Be Still My Heart






PAPPARDELLE with LEMON & ASPARAGUS
Be Still My Heart


This is a simple tale:

Some time ago dear friends gave us and another couple Christopher Idone's "LEMONS - A Country Garden Cookbook" and organized a dinner for the six of us where we'd each made a course from a recipe inside the book.


Our assignment, if we chose to accept it (we did) was appetizers and one of the dishes we made (let me clarify that -- Richard made) was the lemon pizza with creme fraiche and red caviar... it melted in our mouths.



The "dessert couple" chose the cookbook's lemon meringue pie with a crust to truly "flake" over.


But it was the host couple's pappardelle dish that won my heart and has become my new favorite pasta.  Fresh. Creamy.  Cheesy.  As I wrote above... be still my heart!

End of tale.

Pappardelle w/ Lemon & Asparagus

Ingredients:



1 pound pencil-thin asparagus, approximately 32 stalks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 pound fresh or dried pappardelle
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Juice of one lemon
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Zest of one lemon, cut into julienne
Grated Parmesan cheese for serving

Directions:

Cutting on the diagonal, trim the tough ends of the asparagus.  Cu the asparagus into 3 or 4 even pieces on the diagonal.  In a nonreactive kettle of lightly salted boiling water, cook the asparagus for 2 minutes or until just crisp.  Blanch in cold running water and drain.
In sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter and cream.  Allow to cook at a low simmer.

Cook the pappardelle in the kettle of salted boiling water until al dente and drain well.  

While the pasta is boiling, heat the oil in a large skillet and add the blanched asparagus.  Add the hot cream/butter mixture and fold in the lemon juice.  Season with pepper.

Add the drained pasta to the sauce and toss well.



Divide among 4 or 5 warm soup plates and sprinkle with julienned zest.


Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4 to 5

7 comments:

kdmask said...

YUM! :) looks great..I don't think I've ever had Pappardelle

Susan L. said...

Love anything lemon, can't wait to try this. Thanks.

Sandra in Mi said...

Ilona, This sounds absolutely delish!

Anonymous said...

We live in underdeveloped part of the USA. What is pappardelle? :)

Cindy

ilona saari said...

Pappardelle is a wide fettuccini - so fettuccini would work, so would a wide noodle, Cindy.

ilona saari said...

Yum, thanks! Of course, 1 cup of cream makes everything taste good. ;) Debbie

Anonymous said...

Okay - I have saved this recipe and will be trying it soon................thanks for once again sharing. Peggy