Pasta with Asparagus and Mushrooms

Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables, and when I saw it was on-sale last week, I made plans for a meal based around it. Usually, I roast it because that's how Joe likes it best. In fact, roasted asparagus was one of the first vegetables that Joe admitted he liked. However, it isn't usually very cheap, so it seems like a special occasion when I get it.

This pasta is deliciously simple and surprisingly flavorful. It really lets the flavor of the asparagus shine through. You can adjust the amount of red pepper to your liking, and the parmesan cheese is crucial, so use the good stuff. If you wanted to, you could also add grilled chicken, though I might suggest adding more pasta because the vegetable to pasta ratio is pretty high.

Pasta with Asparagus and Mushrooms
source: Cheap Healthy Good

Ingredients

1 to 1-1/2 pounds fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, chopped (I used baby portabellos.)
8 ounces thin spaghetti
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

1) Salt the water and cook pasta according to package instructions.

2) Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Saute asparagus in the pan over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and mushroom slices; cook 4 minutes more.

3) Drain pasta, and transfer to a serving dish. Gently toss pasta with asparagus mixture, parm, and crushed red pepper. Flavor with salt and black pepper to taste.