Name: Spaghetti con le Punte di Asparagi (Spaghetti and Asparagus Tips in a Tomato Sauce)
Prep time: 40 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: Serves 4 as a first course, or 3 as a main course
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: salt and pepper; grated parmesan cheese, to serve; 2 shallots, chopped very finely; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley; 125 ml (4 fl oz) passata (sieved tomatoes); 150 ml (¼ pint) vegetable stock; 375 g (12 oz) spaghetti; 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 500 g (1 lb) asparagus

Preparation info

Serves
4
as a first course

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
40 min

Appears in

Pasta-lover's Cookbook

By Anna Del Conte

Published 1994

About

In Umbria, the locals use wild asparagus spears for this dish. And what a delicacy they are! The English fine’ asparagus, when in full season, is very suitable.

Ingredients

500 g (1 lb) asparagus
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Method

Cut off the woody ends of the asparagus spears to the point where they start to offer resistance to the knife. Wash and dry the spears. Cut off a dozen tips and reserve for decoration. Chop the rest to the size of grains of rice (a food processor makes light work of this task).
Simmer the asparagus tips in a little saucepan of boiling, salted water. Drain when al