Pasta with Asparagus

Pasta with asparagus is what happens when aglio e olio gets a spring upgrade. Five cloves of garlic infuse the olive oil with butter, and a serious hit of red pepper flakes plus a dash of hot sauce gives the dish more backbone than most asparagus-and-pasta recipes.

The trick is cooking the asparagus only until crisp-tender, 8 to 10 minutes max. The bright green stalks should still have snap when you bite. Overcook them and you’ll have stringy, gray asparagus that flops on the fork, the cardinal sin of any spring vegetable.

Mostaccioli is the pasta of choice here, the ridged tubes catch the garlicky oil and bits of cheese in every shape. Penne or rigatoni work as substitutes, but skip thin pastas like spaghetti, they don’t trap the sauce as well.

The Parmigiano goes into the skillet with the asparagus, not just sprinkled on top, so it melts into the oil and clings to every piece. Toss the hot pasta in last to coat everything in the garlic-cheese-oil combination.

Pro Tips

• Trim the tough woody ends from the asparagus by bending each stalk until it snaps naturally. The break point is where the tender part begins.
• Don’t let the garlic brown, keep the heat moderate. Burnt garlic turns bitter and ruins the whole dish.
• Reserve ½ cup of pasta water before draining. A splash helps the sauce coat the pasta evenly.
• Use freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, not the pre-grated dust. The flavor and melting are completely different.

Variations

• Add cooked shrimp or chicken for a more substantial main dish.
• Stir in cherry tomatoes halved in the last 2 minutes for color and sweetness.
• Swap asparagus for broccolini or sugar snap peas in their seasons.