Asparagus and lemon tagliatelle

We’re right in peak asparagus season here in the UK - traditionally it runs from St. George’s Day (23rd April) until the summer solstice (around the 21st June), so there’s a very limited window of opportunity if you want to enjoy some of the country’s finest produce. I’ve been experimenting with vegetarian carbonara recently; having never eaten meat and hence never having had a “true” version of the Italian classic it’s been quite a revelation, with the smokiness of the bacon alternative complimenting the silky egg and cheese sauce. It is quite a rich and heavy dish, however, so I thought it might be quite nice to try and lighten it up a bit for the coming spring months. This is the result - a glossy lemony sauce with fresh, still slightly crunchy asparagus, a tangle of pasta and a good grating of salty cheese.

The ingredients here are simple but effective. I’ve traded in the traditional spaghetti for flatter, wider tagliatelle. It always used to be a thing of excitement as a child when we’d have tagliatelle nests instead of our usual fusilli or penne, plus the rich creamy sauce coats the strands wonderfully. The aforementioned sauce is a mixture of beaten eggs (I use whole eggs rather than just the yolks to save wasting the whites) and a somewhat ridiculous quantity of Pecorino cheese. The combination of the two looks pretty suspect when mixed together in a bowl, but the cooking process renders it sleek, glossy and wonderfully cheesy. Finally, the asparagus. Obviously using a crop from your own country is best (your own asparagus season may vary) but if you can’t get hold of asparagus I’d wager this would also work well with courgette cut into thick batons and treated in the same way. The spears are gently sautéed in butter and garlic, before the pasta and sauce are added to the pan and tossed together with a finishing touch of both the zest and juice of a lemon.

The key to this recipe being a success is the final act of bringing the ingredients together. We’re using raw egg in the sauce, which of course has a propensity to scramble if the heat is too high. For that reason I actually turn the heat from the asparagus pan off before I add the pasta and the eggs; the residual heat is more than enough to melt the cheese and eggs into the required sauce without things getting lumpy and unpleasant. For the same reason, this dish does not reheat well so I’d recommend eating it immediately after cooking. If you want to make it just for two, use one large egg and half the rest of the ingredients. Despite its fancy appearance, this is actually quite a quick and simple meal to make, taking around 30 minutes from prep to plate. Let me know in the comments if you make this one - I’d love to know what you think!

Asparagus and lemon tagliatelle

Serves: 4 | Total time: 30 mins | Source: vicki cooks veggie

Ingredients

• 3 medium eggs

• 100g (3.5oz) vegetarian pecorino (or another Italian hard cheese)

• 250g (9oz) asparagus

• 25g (1oz) butter

• 2 cloves garlic

• 300g (10.5oz) dried tagliatelle

• ½ lemon, zest and juice

• Salt and black pepper

Method

• To begin, whisk 3 eggs in a bowl. Grate the pecorino finely, then add 80g (just under 3oz) of the cheese to the whisked eggs and stir to incorporate. Set aside.

• Prepare the asparagus by removing the woody ends (you can just snap these off) and cutting each spear into three. Crush and finely chop the garlic.

• Get a large pan of boiling salted water on the hob. Add the tagliatelle to the pan and cook for ten minutes (or as per the packet instructions). Once the pasta is cooked, simply turn off the heat - do NOT drain the pasta.

• While the pasta is cooking, heat a large frying pan or wok to a medium heat and melt the butter. Once the butter has begun to sizzle, add the asparagus with a good grinding of pepper and a touch of salt. Sauté (fry) the asparagus for 4 minutes until the spears are tender (you can test this with a fork and see how much effort it takes to prod it!), then turn the pan down to a low heat and add the garlic. Cook for about a minute, stirring, until the garlic starts to colour, then turn off the heat.

• Once the pasta is cooked and the asparagus is done, add the pasta to the asparagus pan using tongs or a spaghetti spoon. You want a little bit of the pasta water to be carried over to the pan as you do this, so don’t worry about draining too much water from the tagliatelle.

• Tip the eggy cheesy mixture into the pan and continuously toss the pasta in the mixture until the sauce turns glossy and creamy. Because the pan has been off the heat for long enough, the eggs will only cook enough to make the sauce, and not make a scrambled mess in the pan!

• Zest half a lemon into the pasta, then squeeze in the juice before giving everything a final stir with another good grinding of black pepper.

• Serve immediately with the remainder of the cheese and a handful of rocket.