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Recipe - Asparagus, Garlic and Goats Cheese Spaghetti


One of the things I love about my little town is that we're lucky enough to have not only a great market twice a week that sells fresh fruit and veg, seafood and meats but also a really great greengrocer shop called Fresh which is located about five minutes walk from my house. I don't go here all the time (laziness prevails, I love Ocado and not carrying heavy bags) but whenever I go into town I pop in to see if they've got something interesting to make a little lunch or dinner with that day and I always get my Boxing Day dinner veg from them on Christmas Eve morning.

Last weekend I'd very smartly bought some spaghetti for lunch but nothing to accompany it and so decided to see if anything jumped out at me while I was strolling through town, I headed into Fresh and immediately spotted a basket full of lovely Lincolnshire asparagus. Well that was a no brainer, Pete and I both love those tender green stems so a bunch went right into my basket along with a nice fat clove of garlic, I handed over my £1.80 and trotted off back home. Unfortunately when I got back I saw that all the parmesan was gone which I had been counting on for a bit of salty sourness, but thankfully I had a little log of goats cheese to crumble in. This was a really nice lunch and naturally could be easily transformed into a dinner either by upping the portion size or perhaps adding some grilled salmon or prawns or chicken. Or anything really. Just make this, cause it's really tasty. OK?


Asparagus, Garlic and Goats Cheese Spaghetti
Serves 2

Ingredients
200g spaghetti, linguine or any pasta you like really
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter, about 15g
bunch of asparagus, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
75g goats cheese, crumbled
salt and pepper

Method
Boil a big pot of water, dump in your pasta, give it a stir and set a timer for when you want to take it out depending how al dente you like it.
Heat the oil and butter together in a drying pan and add the asparagus, frying until tender and if you like as I do, a little charred. When just about done throw in the crushed garlic and season with a little salt, let this cook for about another minute and then take it off the heat.
Drain your pasta and throw in the cooked asparagus, mix through then crumble in the goats cheese before seasoning to your taste and stirring some more so the cheese melts a little.
Dish up and enjoy!