With the stress of life and the recent lack of time, I haven’t given much time to Yes, We Cook! This is simply due to the lack of actual cooking I’ve had the chance to do. Well, today I said enough is enough and get back up on the horse.
Some time back we had a discussion regarding fresh pasta. Well, JT, a fellow writer on the site, introduced me to The Pasta Puttana (Yes, if you are Italian – Gianna – you know what this means) and her freshly made pasta. I picked up a package of the fresh white-wine tagliatelle at the local Chicago market, along with some fresh asparagus, and decided to make a quick meal.
As this way my first experience with Pasta Puttana, and with the fact that this was flavored pasta, I didn’t use my saltwater in the cooking. I have never cooked fresh pasta before and didn’t know what to expect, but it turns out the actual cook time is VERY short. Like 1 minutes short. So, I got the water going to a raging boil, dropped in the pasta, and before I knew it was done.
Remembering that the pasta was flavored, I made a quick butter / celery seed / dried oregano mix to drip over the dish. I simply used 1 teaspoon of butter, added a pinch of each seasoning, and melted together.
For the fresh asparagus, I used the technique previously used in the “Fusion” steak recipe.
- 1 bunch Fresh Asparagus
- pinch of garlic powder
- lemon juice
- 1 pad of butter
- freshly crushed black pepper
Cut the asparagus into inch long cuts. Add enough lemon juice to cover the bottom of the pan, include your pad of butter, and boil the juice for roughly 5 mins. Your asparagus will turn a nice bright green when it’s ready. Once bright green, take off the flame and drain off remaining lemon juice. Add the garlic powder and black pepper, mix with the pasta, add pine nuts and you are set.
Let me say, and I’m sad to say, I did not have the camera available for this dish. So there will be no food porn available. Sorry.
First off, the fresh pasta by The Pasta Puttana was some of the best pasta I’ve ever had. The white wine was not overbearing in anyway at all. The addition of the butter mix wasn’t even necessary, actually. I did not take away from the pasta but it didn’t add much either.
I love my Lemon Asparagus but it was not appropriate for this dish. The lemon was too strong for the subtle taste of the white wine pasta. I would suggest simply steaming the asparagus in water.
Bottom line: If you have a local pasta source, give it a try. If you are in Chicago, contact The Pasta Puttana and get some of her freshly made goods.
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#1 by Bob - May 7th, 2009 at 00:34
Sounds great. I wonder if there is a similar pasta place around Boston…
#2 by Van - May 7th, 2009 at 00:39
Hey Bob!
Good to see you, I’ve been out of the loop for about two weeks now. If you are looking for places in Boston (or around) I suggest you check out http://localharvest.org
I’ve found their location services to be very useful. I highly suggest trying fresh pasta after having this experience.
#3 by donna - May 7th, 2009 at 05:42
Was wondering where you been hiding! Love the sound of this fresh pasta.. Dont know that they have that here by me, but if I traveled into NYC, I bet they would. I love your asparagus mixture to go with it, it must have tasted wonderful!
#4 by Van - May 7th, 2009 at 14:45
This whole life thing, Donna, seems to get in the way. As I mentioned to Bob, check out http://localharvest.org
The site seems to have the concept of tracking down good, local, sources for food. Never having fresh pasta before, I didn’t know what to expect. It’s worth tracking down a good resource and paying the extra few dollars.
#5 by Reeni - May 7th, 2009 at 16:37
Fresh pasta is the best, and how unique is white wine flavored?!! Your dish sounds really good!
#6 by Van - May 7th, 2009 at 17:24
What I cannot figure out is this – how did she manage to keep the wine flavor taste in the pasta without having mixing into the other ingredients.
#7 by Tina - May 9th, 2009 at 20:58
Yummy asparagus! We are getting some of the thin tender stalks at our markets lately. I like those with a bit of lemon. Fresh pasta really does make a difference.
#8 by Van - May 10th, 2009 at 00:44
I love this time of year as the asparagus is the best. This really brings back childhood memories. =)
#9 by Gianna - May 10th, 2009 at 12:00
sounds fantastic!! I’m sorta hiding out here in virtual land…this is a very rare appearance…
shall I translate La Pasta Puttana for all?? And it really should be “La” rather than “The” why not go all out Italian???
#10 by Van - May 10th, 2009 at 20:26
It was really fantastic!
We should go all the way with the Italian. It very well may be La, but I don’t know the full story. It would be very easy to contact her as she makes herself very available to people.
Enjoy your time off, and it’s an honor to have you make the rare appearance. =)
#11 by Gianna - May 10th, 2009 at 21:07
it’s The Pasta Whore
and my pasta puttanesca recipe is basically pasta alla whore…
#12 by Joanne - May 16th, 2009 at 15:24
Fresh pasta is the best kind, my family used to get fresh raviolis from The Bronx back when my grandparents still lived there. I plan to go there once I’m back to pick some up and explore their other options.
The white wine flavor sounds really good, and asparagus is a great pairing with it! Both very delicate flavors, however, I can see why the lemon would be overpowering.
#13 by Van - May 16th, 2009 at 22:43
Hey, good to see you. I owe you an email – life has kept me from taking care of a number of things. Yes, the lemon taste was too much for this dish. Didn’t totally think it through.
I’ll get to the email later this weekend.
V
#14 by Elyse - May 18th, 2009 at 22:33
This pasta sounds great!! I love a good pasta dish, although I don’t eat it very often. Sorry that I’ve been an absent commenter; I just finished up my law school exams and am finally getting around to my google reader.
#15 by Van Santos - May 18th, 2009 at 23:09
Hey Elyse!
First, congrats on the exams. Next… the BAR.
Don’t worry, we all have had our own things going on in life over here that prevented us from posting. That said, I will be doing a Pumpkin Cheesecake this weekend. =)
The fresh pasta is highly recommenced for anyone. If you have a chance to pick some up – do!
#16 by Jenn@slim-shoppin - May 20th, 2009 at 15:19
That sounds so easy to make!
I’m putting that on my “to-do” list. Everyone in my family loves asparagus and this is a nice change of pace from the traditional pasta and marinara sauce I usually do!
Thanks for posting the recipe!
#17 by Tina - May 27th, 2009 at 18:20
Just checking in on you. Hope you are eating well even if you aren’t blogging about it. We’ve had some nice pasta lunches out and I thought about you and this post!