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Home » Foodland Ontario

Foodland Ontario - Asparagus

By Jen

asparagus with pasta salad
It's that time again, time to turn to our Foodland Ontario calendar for dinner! Love that calendar. For the month of May the calendar feature's the quintessential springtime vegetable, asparagus. I am hoping to get my girls out to a "pick-your-own" asparagus farm this spring. I'm just not sure they exist...but I'm working on it! The best part of this recipe is the pasta. Really, if we add anything to pasta my kids will eat it, so it's no surprise my girls liked this recipe.

3 cups penne pasta
1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1" pieces
2 tablespoon butter
1 chopped onion
3 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 ½ cup chicken broth
1 cup diced smoked ham
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
pinch of pepper
1 ½ cup grated asiago cheese

1. Place pasta in a large pot of boiling water, cook for about 6 minutes.
2. Add the asparagus to the boiling pasta water and cook with the pasta for 4 to 6 minutes.

asparagus and pasta

3. Drain and pour into a large bowl.
4. Melt butter in a saucepan.
5. Add onion until softened.
6. Whisk in flour, then gradually whisk in chicken broth...bring to the boil.

asparagus and pasta
asparagus and pasta salad

7. Reduce heat and add ham, lemon rind, mustard, thyme and pepper.

asparagus and pasta salad

8. Simmer and add 1 cup of cheese until melted.

asparagus and pasta salad

9. Pour the sauce over the pasta, sprinkle with remaining cheese and serve.

asparagus and pasta salad
We served our asparagus pasta salad with an Ontario steak, it was delicious. We saved the leftover salad and had a nice cold pasta salad for lunch the next day. I love a recipe that the kids like and that works as easy leftovers. After a beautifully sunny weekend, it is nice to eat the flavours of spring.

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About Jen

Jen Farr is a mother living in Toronto, Canada. She has been sharing her DIY crafts, recipes, activities and parenting advice for over 15 years on her blog Kitchen Counter Chronicle. Jen is the mom of 2 lovely daughters. She believes in the power of taking small steps that can make big impacts on the world.

Comments

  1. MaryAnne K says

    May 14, 2012 at 7:38 pm

    This looks and sounds delicious! Love that it tastes good warm or cold 🙂

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Hi, I'm Jen!

I’m the creative mind behind Kitchen Counter Chronicle. I’ve been making and sharing activities, crafts, and recipes for 10+ years.

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