Penne with Asparagus, Sage & Peas

So last weekend, Husband and I picked out recipes to cook for the week. On Tuesday I decided to make penne with asparagus, sage & peas from the Food & Wine Annual Cookbook 2010. This is a great cookbook. Right up front it lists healthy recipes and fast recipes - were they reading my mind? And most recipes are coded with one of four classifications: healthy, make ahead, vegetarian, and staff favorite. Ooo and they also suggest wines that would compliment each recipe!


Here's the recipe!

Ingredients:
1/2 pound penne
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 medium garlic cloves, very finely chopped
1 pound thick asparagus, cut into 1" lengths
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups (10 oz) peas (we used canned - it was delish)
1/2 cup heavy cream (we used half & half - it's what we had)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Salt & pepper

-Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the penne and cook until al dente (which means "to the tooth!") and drain.
-Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil and add the garlic & asparagus. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally until the garlic is fragrant, about 3 min. Add the chicken stock and boil over high heat until reduced by half and the asparagus are tender, about 5 minutes.
-Add the peas and cream to the skillet and boil over high heat until the sauce has thickened, 3 minutes. (I tried not to boil it because I didn't want the half and half to curdle.) Stir in the penne and cook until heated through. (Did you know pasta absorbs sauces best when it's warm? Thank you Ina Garten.) Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, sage and the 1/2 cup of cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
-Serve immediately with more cheese on top!
Wine pairing: fresh, lively Soave.

So we only had spinach penne so the dish turned out very green. But picture creamy white penne sprinkled with green asparagus and little green peas and bits of herbs. Beautiful!

And because my husband has to have meat with dinner, I made pork chops with the cajun rub from this Tasty Kitchen Cajun Pork Chops recipe. It's a great rub, sweet, spicy, smoky. It would be good on chicken and beef too.

It was delicious!