Savor a classic spring vegetable with these asparagus pasta dishes

Asparagus is my favorite vegetable in the spring!

I remember holding a fat spear with both hands and bending it gently until it snapped. That was my first cooking lesson at age 4.

Living in Lodi during the formative years of my life, I watched spears of asparagus literally grow out of the ground from their crowns, akin to bulbs, planted in the sandy delta soil.

Those delicate bud-tips, bright green like grass, tickled my fancy with or without a dip of mayo or melted butter.

With a home economics teacher as a mother, I was taught to snap lugs of asparagus stalks with proficiency. I loved my cooking homework!

Spring finds me foraging for new recipes to keep the love of my life fresh.

Asparagus is versatile and adapts deliciously to steaming, braising, grilling, roasting, sautéing, baking and even deep frying.

Browsing through “The San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook,” published in 1997, I found an easy one-pot ditalini pasta dish by Janet Fletcher.

This dish features only five ingredients and cooks up fast! I turn the leftovers into a cold pasta salad with the addition of halved cherry tomatoes, a drizzle of vinaigrette and a dusting of Parmesan cheese.

Did you know that thick asparagus spears have more flavor than thin ones?

In a class through UC Berkeley Osher’s Lifelong Learning Institute last spring, chef and teacher Linda Carucci taught us how to prepare a luscious asparagus lasagne she developed.

As with most lasagne recipes, there are three parts: the filling, the sauce and the assembly.

Rave reviews and requests for the recipe ensue each time I serve it.

This lasagne brings the taste of spring to the palate.

It freezes well and is worth the effort to make while asparagus flourishes. The mint adds depth and complexity to the sauce without a distinct minty flavor.

Ditalini with Asparagus

2 pounds fresh asparagus, snapped at the fulcrum (cut off woody end and reserve stalk for soup)

1 pound ditalini pasta (macaroni salad rounds)

2 tablespoons, melted unsalted butter

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Cut snapped asparagus into ditalini-sized slices, about 1/3-inch long.

In a large pot, add 1 tablespoon of salt to 4 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Cook pasta for 4 minutes. Melt butter with olive oil.

Add cut asparagus to pot and cook until pasta is al dente, about 4 minutes. Drain cooking water.

Transfer pasta to large warm bowl or pot and add butter-oil mixture, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with Parmesan and combine well. Serve in warm bowls. Serves 4 to 6.

Asparagus Lasagne

Filling:

2 pounds asparagus

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 large shallots (1 cup), thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

2/3 cup baby spinach leaves, packed

1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, packed

Bechamel sauce:

4 tablespoon unsalted butter

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

2 cups milk, preferably whole

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Assembly:

2 teaspoons butter to grease 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish, Pyrex if possible

10 no-boil pasta, white or whole wheat (fresh pasta is best if available)

8 ounces Italian fontina cheese (3 cups) coarsely grated

3 ounces grana padano, Parmesan or Asiago cheese (2/3 cup) finely grated

Snap off asparagus tips from spear; set aside in bowl. Snap off woody bottom of stalk and discard. Cut remaining middle spears in half-inch lengths and set aside.

Melt butter in a 10-inch skillet and sauté shallots over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the asparagus and 1 tablespoon water, stirring frequently for another 5 minutes, adding more water as necessary. When tender, remove tips and reserve.

Add cut spears to skillet and cook until fork tender, about 5 minutes.

Add spinach, parsley and mint to skillet with asparagus and stir 2 minutes until spinach wilts.

Purée in food processor or blender until only flecks of green are evident. Transfer to bowl and set aside.

Melt butter in a 3-quart pan over medium heat. Whisk in flour, stirring constantly for 2 minutes.

Gradually pour in milk and stir with wooden spoon in a figure-8 pattern until sauce is thickened and your finger creates a track on the back of the spoon, 5 to 10 minutes.

Combine sauce with asparagus puree, whisking well.

Set oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit (375 degrees if using Pyrex) and grease baking dish.

Spread 1/2 cup sauce in bottom of dish and place two no-boil pasta rectangles on top of sauce.

Spread a generous 1/2 cup of sauce over pasta, sprinkle with 2/3 cup fontina cheese and 3 tablespoons grano padano. Repeat three more layers. Top with a layer of pasta, spreading remaining sauce and fontina cheese. Distribute asparagus tips over lasagne and scatter with remaining cheese.

Bake 30 to 45 minutes until golden brown and piping hot in middle.

Allow to stand about 10 minutes before serving.

Lasagne can be prepared several days ahead of serving, covered and refrigerated. To bake, remove the cover and let sit on the counter an hour before baking. Serves 6.