eastowners

Current Mood: Loopy

We’re headed out of town this weekend and had a fresh bunch of asparagus in the fridge that would have gone bad had we not done anything with it. As a result, rather than do family peanut butter and jelly for lunch, I decided something had to be done with the asparagus.

Thing was, I didn’t want to go to the store for anything. I’ve been enjoying my reprieve from people today and certainly didn’t want to spend my Saturday morning playing around in the aisles of D&W fighting the weekend mob.

So I dug around and found everything I needed for some Penne con Asparigi. Here’s a basic run-down of my recipe (mind you… this was completely improvised, but came out wonderfully).

Penne:

Prepare per package directions. Strain well.

Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce :

In a pan, melt 5 tablespoons of butter in 1/8 cup milk. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons crushed garlic. Add 1/4 cup (or slightly more) fresh grated parmesan (or parmesan-romano). Add 1/3 teaspoon lemon juice. Salt to taste and reduce heat to lowest setting. Stir occasionally.

Chik’n :

In a frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add frozen Morningstar Chik’n Strips. Once thawed, add basil and oregano; 1/4 tsp each, or to taste. Fry until browned on both sides.

Asparagus :

Wash well. Remove woody lower part with knife. On a cookie sheet, coat in olive oil, salt and garlic powder (we use Garlic & Wine seasoning from The Melting Pot). Broil for 4-5 minutes. DO NOT OVERCOOK. They will continue to cook once added to the other hot ingredients. Once removed from the oven cut into bite size pieces very carefully.

The final bit :

Combine Penne, Chik’n, Aparagus, and sauce in a pot or large bowl and serve with extra cheese and fresh cracked pepper.

This dish turned out really well, and it’s great to get asparagus that isn’t all thin and stringy (or frozen).