Cook's Hideout: Pasta with Asparagus, Mascarpone cheese & Walnuts

October 11, 2013

Pasta with Asparagus, Mascarpone cheese & Walnuts

Blogging Marathon# 33: Week 2/ Day 2
Theme: Favorite Celebrity Chef Recipes
Dish: Giada's Pasta with Asparagus & Mascarpone cheese
My Celebrity chef of choice for Day 2 of BM# 33 is Giada De Laurentils. She is an Italian chef and is a regular on Food Network. Her Italian recipes look doable and easy to make with every-day available ingredients.
I learnt a lot of Italian recipes watching Giada's shows. One of the fancy ingredient I started to buy after watching her is Mascarpone cheese. She uses it in both sweet & savory preparations like cheesecakes, pastas etc. I buy a tub on mascarpone cheese when on sale and use it in various dishes.
Pasta with Asparagus, Mascarpone cheese & Walnuts
Today's dish is Giada's Farfalle with Asparagus & Mascarpone. I was making this for my sister who doesn't eat mushrooms, so I used peppers instead. Also I jazzed up the recipe with sauteed onion and garlic for added flavor. Addition of walnuts was the highlight for this recipe and I really enjoyed the crunch. Final dish was colorful, creamy and filling.
Pasta with Asparagus, Mascarpone cheese & Walnuts
Ingredients:
Pasta - 1lb. (Farfalle was used in the original recipe, but any short cut pasta would taste good)
Peppers - 1 medium, chopped
Asparagus - 1 bunch, cut into 1" pieces
Onion - 1 medium, thinly sliced
Garlic - 2~3 cloves, minced
Mascarpone cheese - 1cup
Walnuts - ¾cup, toasted
Parmesan Cheese - ¼cup
Nutmeg - a pinch, freshly grated
Red Pepper Falkes - 1tsp (or to taste)
Salt & Pepper - to taste

Method:
  • Cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve 1cup of pasta cooking water for later.
  • Heat 1tbsp olive oil in a saute pan, add the onions and cook until translucent. Next add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
  • Add peppers and cook for 3~4 minutes. Next add chopped asparagus and cook until both peppers and asparagus are almost tender but should still have a bite.
  • Add the drained pasta and mix well. 
  • Add mascarpone cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix well and serve topped with toasted, chopped walnuts and parmesan cheese.
Pasta with Asparagus, Mascarpone cheese & Walnuts
Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked up today for BM# 33.
Signature

13 comments:

  1. Very flavorful and delicious pasta , loved the addition of walnuts...

    ReplyDelete
  2. wow what a wonderful recipe. bookmarked for the coming winter months.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree that the addition of walnuts adds to the crunch and extra of everything enjoyable!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. wow loving this combo :) looks super yummy and sounds very interesting :) wud love to finish the whole bowl !!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am really hoping some magic takes place and I get to taste it.
    Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. i just came from the supermarket with some fresh asparagus - but I;m out of marsscapone:(

    ReplyDelete
  7. This look so delicious with tempting colors..

    ReplyDelete
  8. Super dish and even more super clicks..loved the colorful dish..very pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very flavorful pasta recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lovely combination of colors n flavors!!! :) Very colorful, indeed!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sounds very interesting,looks so colorful..

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love Mascarpone and this pasta has everything going for it. Lovely flavours.

    ReplyDelete
  13. A new author and a newer dish..very lovely pics!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by my Hideout.

I really appreciate your feedback, so please feel free to leave your comment. I read all the comments you post, but I may not respond to them. Thank you for your time and hope you enjoyed your stay.

Have a Wonderful Day!!

LinkWithin

Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin
Blogging tips