Now that I’ve had quite enough of making and eating  frittatas for the time being, I’ve moved back to pasta.  Over the past few months I’ve learnt that more tomato is not necessarily better in any number of dishes.  Just a handful of cherry tomatoes can change the dynamic, adding a subtle energy without overwhelming the other ingredients.   Also, when I first cooked this pasta dish I only had six cherry tomatoes left, as well as the last scrap of mascarpone. So, no choice there, but it was so delicious that I pass the recipe on.  

Per person:

80-100g taglioline, or tagliatelle, or spaghetti

A handful of wild asparagus (or sprue)

1 clove garlic, chopped

6 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon mascarpone

finely grated zest of ½ lemon

Salt and pepper

Freshly grated pecorino to serve

Put a pan of well salted water on to boil.   Trim off all the woody ends of the stems of the asparagus and discard (or simmer in water to make a stock for soup).   

When the water is at a rolling boil, add the linguini. Boil for as long as the packets says , minus 2 minutes (wild asparagus),  3-4 minutes (sprue). At this point add the asparagus to the pasta and keep right on boiling for the remainder of the cooking time.   Scoop out a cupful of the cooking water and reserve. Drain the pasta and asparagus. 

Meanwhile, put the olive oil and garlic in a frying pan and place over a medium-low heat.   As soon as the garlic begins to brown (this only takes a minute or two so don’t wander off), add the cherry tomatoes.   Cook together for another 2 or 3 minutes, until the tomatoes have softened down. Add the mascarpone and a scant tablespoon of the cooking water (per portion) and stir until all is melted nicely together.   Add the lemon zest, salt and pepper. Tip in the drained pasta and asparagus and toss in the creamy sauce.  

Eat at once, sprinkled generously with freshly grated pecorino.

Enjoyed this recipe? browse more classic Puglian recipes in the recipes category.

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