My friend Maria Paniccia is one of the most unbelievable Italian cooks ever. She has spoilt me so throughly with her farm fresh, home cooked Italian food that I really have a hard time eating at Italian restaurants.
This is one of my favorite pastas. It is so simple and tasty. She uses quite a bit of olive oil in this recipe. You can use as much as you are comfortable with. You can make this with angel hair, spaghetti, fettucini or any of your favorite pastas.
Additionally, I also chop up and add Japanese fish cake crab sticks ( used to make california rolls) – you could also add pancetta but that is optional. Once you are comfortable with this recipe, you can add in or take out ingredients as you wish. I do highly recommend using the asparagus and mushroom as they really make the dish tasty.
Asparagus and Mushroom Pasta
9-10 cloves of garlic chopped
Fish cake crab-sticks
10-12 stalks of chopped asparagus
Ingredients
10 shitake or any mushroom sliced
10-12 sticks of fish cake crab sticks ( optional)
3 small plum tomatoes chopped or 10-12 grape tomatoes halved
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt, pepper and red chili flakes
Pasta of choice ( boil and keep aside)
Garlic and asparagus cooking
- Heat 5 tablespoons of oil on medium heat.
- Add the garlic.
- Saute for a minute and add the asparagus.
- Turn heat to low, cover and cook for about 10 minutes.
- Add the sliced mushrooms and chopped fish cake crab sticks(opt).
- Cover and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and cook covered for 10 more minutes.
- Add the cooked pasta to the vegetables and mix it all very well.
- Add salt, pepper and red chili flakes to taste.
- Pour a few teaspoons of olive oil on top and serve immediately.
Asparagus and Mushroom Pasta
This pasta is really yummy. I love it.