Asparagus Tomatina Carbonara

(Serves 6-8)

This makes the ideal side-dish to compliment any style of meal… tasty, creamy and dreamy – you will have to make more… by demand!

Serving suggestions

Any herb tastes fantastic in this recipe… favourites are coriander, dill, Vietnamese mint and parsley. Cooked ‘al dente’ means ‘to the tooth’ – describing pasta or vegetables that have been cooked lightly and still offer resistance to the tooth. Food should still be a little crunchy or slightly undercooked.

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Ingredients

350g penne

16 stems asparagus

80g butter

2 dessertspoon olive oil

2-3 teaspoons Smokey Tomatina

4 egg yolks, beaten

1 tablespoon torn basil, parsley or mint leaves

3 slices prosciutto, sliced

1 dessertspoon grated lemon or lime zest

150g (1 1/2 cups) freshly grated parmesan cheese

Method

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to boil, add pasta and cook until al dente
Meanwhile, snap woody ends off asparagus stems and slice into 2.5cm pieces – set aside the asparagus tips
Drop stems into a second saucepan of boiling water and cook for 2 minutes then add tips
Cook a for a further 2 minutes and drain well
Heat butter in large frying pan, add asparagus stems and tips and sauté for 1 minute
Drain pasta and return to hot saucepan
Add asparagus with butter, Smokey Tomatina, well beaten egg yolks, herbs, prosciutto, lime or lemon zest and about a third of parmesan
Immediately toss well to combine all ingredients.

Serve hot with remaining parmesan.