Pasta with Asparagus, Mascarpone cheese & Walnuts

Recipe by Cook's Hideout

Blogging Marathon# 33: Week 2/ Day 2 Theme: Favorite Celebrity Chef Recipes Dish: Giada's Pasta with Asparagus & Mascarpone cheese My Celebrity chef of choice for Day 2 of BM# 33 is Giada De Laurentils. She is an Italian chef and is a regular on Food Network. Her Italian recipes look doable and easy to make with every-day available ingredients. I learnt a lot of Italian recipes watching Giada's shows. One of the fancy ingredient I started to buy after watching her is Mascarpone cheese. She uses it in both sweet & savory preparations like cheesecakes, pastas etc. I buy...

Ingredients

• 1 lb pasta (. (Farfalle was used in the original recipe, but any short cut pasta would taste good))
• 1 peppers (- medium, chopped)
• 1 bunch asparagus (- cut into 1" pieces)
• 1 onion (- medium, thinly sliced)
• 2 ~ 3 cloves Garlic (- minced)
• 1 cup cheese (Mascarpone)
• Ritz Cracker (- toasted)
• Ritz Cracker
• a pinch Nutmeg (- freshly grated)
• 1 tsp red pepper (Falkes (or to taste))
• to taste Salt Pepper (&)

Method

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve 1cup of pasta cooking water for later.
2. Heat 1tbsp olive oil in a saute pan, add the onions and cook until translucent. Next add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
3. Add peppers and cook for 3~4 minutes. Next add chopped asparagus and cook until both peppers and asparagus are almost tender but should still have a bite.
4. Add the drained pasta and mix well.
5. Add mascarpone cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix well and serve topped with toasted, chopped walnuts and parmesan cheese.

View the recipe instructions at Cook's Hideout