Pasta with Asparagus and Egg Cream

Pasta with asparagus and egg cream is a light and flavorful spring dish. Here’s how to prepare it.

Ingredients

• 320 g of pasta (linguine or fettuccine work very well)
• 400 g of fresh asparagus
• 4 egg yolks
• 50 g of grated Parmesan
• 1 clove of garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Pasta cooking water as needed

Preparation

1. Clean the asparagus by removing the tougher end of the stem, and cut them into pieces about 3-4 cm long.
2. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the asparagus for about 2-3 minutes. Drain them and set aside, reserving the cooking water.
3. In a large pan, sauté a clove of garlic with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
4. Add the asparagus to the sauté and cook for a few minutes over medium heat.
5. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in the water where you blanched the asparagus, following the times indicated on the package for al dente cooking.
6. While the pasta cooks, prepare the egg cream by beating the yolks with the grated Parmesan, add a bit of pasta cooking water to make the cream more fluid and black pepper to taste.
7. Drain the pasta al dente, reserving some cooking water, and add it to the pan with the asparagus.
8. Remove the pan from the heat and incorporate the egg cream, stirring quickly to combine everything and to prevent the egg from curdling too much and becoming scrambled egg.
9. If necessary, add a bit of cooking water to emulsify the pasta.
10. Serve the pasta with asparagus and egg cream immediately while hot.

Trivia

This recipe is perfect for enhancing the delicate flavor of asparagus and for enjoying a creamy texture given by the emulsion of the egg yolk with Parmesan and the pasta cooking water, a technique that is also used in the preparation of other Italian dishes such as carbonara.