15 minute pasta

This dish was the fastest and the easiest to make of all the dishes that I've made so far. I've added some sun dried tomatoes that I got at the farmer's market last week. I soaked them in hot water for 5 minutes just to plump them up a little and then added them to the sauce. The pasta was very tasty, however it was missing something. Nelson said that bacon or pancetta would be a great addition to this dish and also it would make it a little hardier. I didn't have any tarragon so I used oregano that I have growing in my garden.


Pasta with goat cheese lemon and asparragus
Adapted from Bon Appetit
Serves 6

1 pound of multigrain rotini or pene pasta
1 pound of lender asparagus spears, trimmed, cut into 1-1 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 tablespoon of grated lemon peel
1 teaspoons of chopped fresh oregano
1 5 to 5 1/2-oz log of fresh goat cheese
1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes

Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water, until almonst tender, stirring occationally , about 7 minutes. Add asparagus and cook until pasta is tender but still firm to the bite, about 3 minutes longer.
Meanwhile combine oil, lemon peel, chopped oregano, and chopped sun dried tomatoes in a large bowl. Coarsely crumble in goat cheese. Drain pasta and asparagus, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid. Add hot pasta, asparagus and 1/4 cup of reserved cooking liquid to bowl with cheese mixture. Toss to coat, adding more reserved liquid if dry. Season pasta to taste with salt and pepper.