PASTA WITH ASPARAGUS AND TOASTED SESAME SEEDS

PASTA WITH ASPARAGUS AND TOASTED SESAME SEEDS

One of my food revelations when I moved here was to be able to get fresh asparagus without paying a fortune and getting healthy, vigorous ones as well instead of the scrawny ones I would find in Sweden in those days. I'm sure things have changed since then but when I lived there, either you bought canned asparagus or you bought not that great fresh ones, what a lousy choice. So you can imagine how I felt here, an ardent asparagus lover when the first Spring came and I saw all this wonderful asparagus on sale, I went mad. Nowadays I'm a bit blasé but I still can't resist their allure when spring comes. I think my favourite way of serving them is with really creamy scrambled eggs but you cannot live on that alone so I do serve it in other ways and this is one of them.





PASTA WITH ASPARAGUS AND TOASTED SESAME SEEDS
4 servings

400-500 g/0,88-1,1 lb pasta
1 bunch of asparagus, they usually weigh around 500 g/ 1,1 lb
2 small fresh onions
3-4 tblsp sesame seeds
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

- Start cooking the pasta.
- Clean the asparagus and break or cut off the woody arts of the stalks before cutting them into pieces. If you want to speed up the cooking, you can chop them now instead of later.
- Chop the onions finely and start frying gently them and the asparagus in a skillet in some olive oil. Add salt and cook until the asparagus is soft but still got a bite to them, we don't want mushy asparagus. Unless you like that of course.
- Toast the sesame seeds in a hot skillet.
- When the asparagus is ready, chop them roughly and taste for salt.
- When the pasta is ready, mix it with the asparagus and sprinkle the sesame seeds over before serving. Or why not let people sprinkle for themselves?