Pasta with Creamy Asparagus-Herb Sauce

The first bedroom that I didn't have to share with my brother was painted a beautiful lavender with soft green trim, which has remained one of my favorite color pairings. Today, inspired by my spring garden offerings, I whipped up a beautiful rhapsody in pastel greens and purples to toss with our pasta dinner and while Dan thought it was "okay" and the girls didn't appreciate having "grass clippings" sprinkled all through their noodles, I thought this dish was a knockout...beautiful, delicately-flavored and perfumed with chives, dill, lime and lemon balm. My family are all just a bunch of pastel-hating Philistines.

Here is my palette of assembled ingredients:



Pasta with Creamy Asparagus-Herb Sauce

1 lb. gluten-free pasta
1 bunch asparagus, sliced into 1/2 inch diagonal slices
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 cup snipped chives and 7-8 purple chive blossoms, separated into flowerets
1/2 cup snipped fresh dill
1/2 cup shredded lemon balm
2 Tbsp. rice flour
1/2 cup milk
4 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta in boiling water and drain. Rinse with warm water.

While pasta is cooking, heat 2 Tbsp. butter and 2 Tbsp. olive oil in saute pan until hot. Add asparagus and half of chives, lemon balm and dill. Cook, stirring, about 4-5 minutes, or until asparagus is just tender. Remove from pan and set aside.

Heat remaining butter and olive oil in same pan. Add rice flour and stir 1 minute. Add milk slowly, stirring all the while, to make a cream sauce. Add half of remaining herb trio, lime juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss cream sauce with pasta and garnish each serving with rest of herbs and chive blossoms. Serve with grated cheese on the side.

Serves 6.



I am submitting this recipe to the Weekend Herb Blogging Event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen over two years ago and hosted this week by Sweetnicks. This is my first submission to this fun and informative event and I am looking forward to a roundup of other great recipes using fresh ingredients from the market and our gardens.