Recipe: pasta with feta and asparagus
Whether you want to make a quick weeknight meal or pull out all the stops with a dinner that blows your guests away, RecipeTin Eats: TONIGHT by Nagi Maehashi never disappoints. This cookbook is packed with crowd-pleasers that are impossible to resist. Think ground beef with honey and ginger or tender Asian chicken that melts in your mouth. From dishes that are on the table within 20 minutes to recipes that let you steal the show without any stress, this makes every evening a success.
Nagi: “Weeknight pasta doesn’t get any easier than this, thanks to the fresh sauce that you don’t have to cook! With this handy recipe, you can make an absurdly quick pasta with vegetables. Cook the vegetables with the pasta first to save time (and washing up). Drain everything and then pour the sauce (which you don’t have to cook) over it like a kind of dressing. Toss everything together and you’re done. It’s essentially a warm pasta salad, also known as pasta con salsa fresca. Once melted, the Danish feta makes a wonderfully creamy, fresh and tangy sauce. Feel free to replace the green asparagus with another vegetable you have at home – they do that in Italy too!“
How to make pasta with feta and asparagus
- Make the sauce: put all the sauce ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake well. You can do this while the pasta is cooking.
- Cook the pasta and asparagus: bring a pot of water with ½ teaspoon of salt to the boil. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. Add the asparagus 2 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
- Pasta water: just before draining, scoop 3 tablespoons of pasta water from the pot and stir it into the sauce. Drain the pasta and asparagus in a colander, but do not rinse them.
- Finish and serve: return the cooked pasta and asparagus to the pot over medium heat. Add the sauce and crumble half of the feta over it. Stir everything vigorously for 1 minute until the feta has melted and coated the pasta. Spoon the pasta into a serving dish or two bowls. Crumble the remaining feta over it. Enjoy!
What you need to know about the pasta and feta
- Penne lisce is a small type of pasta with a smoother surface than regular penne. I like using it because it is the perfect size and cooks in just 8 minutes. But you can make this recipe with any type of pasta, short or long!
- Danish feta is creamier than the more crumbly Greek feta. It is very suitable for making a creamy sauce. You can replace it with goat cheese here.
- Fresh lemon elevates this simple dish, but in an emergency you can also use red or white wine vinegar, sherry vinegar, champagne vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
- The dish keeps well in the refrigerator for three days. Not suitable for freezing.
Title: RecipeTin Eats: TONIGHT
Author: Nagi Maehashi
Price: €32,99
Publisher: Spectrum
Publication date 25 March
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