Spaghetti with wild asparagus

Around the beautiful “Villa La Rogaia“ In Umbria, wild asparagus grows. To be precise, the Mediterranean-wide and particularly delicious asparagus acutifolius (Pointed-leaved asparagus)The taste of this wild asparagus is much more aromatic and also a bit more bitter than green or white asparagus as we know it.

Asparagus is a typical spring and early summer dish in this region. Whether briefly blanched and drizzled with a little olive oil and lemon juice, as a "frittata" or risotto or as a green highlight in an egg tart. Amira from Villa La Rogaia has provided us with a recipe with fresh asparagus and - how could it be otherwise in Italy - delicious pasta. We hope you have fun cooking it!

Spaghetti with wild asparagus

Ingredients for 4 persons

Ingredients:

• 300 g wild asparagus or green asparagus

• 300 g cherry tomatoes

• 400g spaghetti

• 100 g Parmesan cheese in one piece

• 1 clove of garlic

• Olive oil

• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Put a pan of water on the boil for the spaghetti and add salt. Contrary to the usual rule, only fill the pan halfway, as we want the pasta water to be creamy and rich in starch when cooking the spaghetti.

Wash the asparagus and remove the woody ends, do not peel! Cut into pieces about 3 cm long. Halve very thick asparagus lengthways. Halve the cherry tomatoes and coarsely grate the Parmesan.

In a large pan, sauté a whole garlic clove in olive oil, add the asparagus pieces and tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Cook the spaghetti al dente. Take 2 tablespoons of the boiling pasta water and mix it in a small bowl with half of the grated Parmesan to form a paste.

Remove the garlic clove from the pan. Remove the spaghetti from the pan using a pasta strainer or drain it, collecting the pasta water.

Add the spaghetti to the pan with about 50 ml of pasta water (equivalent to about half a ladle), mix with the vegetables and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, add the cheese paste and stir.

Immediately place the pasta on plates, sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and serve.

If the pasta left in the pan thickens, you can use the pasta water to make the pasta creamy again for the second helping.

Buon appetite
wishes you your Amira