Sausage Asparagus Pasta

Eleven calves in two weeks. The season is moving at good pace. Three of the eleven needed assistance — one was a presentation problem that required forty minutes of careful repositioning, two were heifers who needed some help with the first steps. All eleven are standing and nursing and will be all right. That's the clean version of calving. Not every year is clean. This one is, so far.

Tom's wrist is healed. He's been doing the exercises the physical therapist gave him and he's been largely consistent, which surprised me until he explained it: he set an alarm. He treats the exercises like an appointment. I said: That's a good system. He said: I'm eighty-two. Systems are what you have. That's a philosophy worth writing down, which I did.

Linda is writing something about Derek. She mentioned it briefly in a February letter and hasn't mentioned it since, which means she's in the middle of it, in the part where you don't discuss it because the discussion takes the energy you need for the writing. I know that part. I've been in it enough times. I'm not asking about it. When it's ready she'll show me. Until then the subject is the subject and I trust the process that she's following.

March equinox is next week. The aspens are budding along the creek. The garden will be going in two weeks. The world is in the liminal zone between winter and spring, not quite either, and I'm paying attention to the specific quality of this in-between time the way I've been paying attention to transitions for years. They're always more interesting than the settled seasons.

Made a lamb ragù with the first spring herbs from the cold frame. Light braised lamb, fresh tarragon and thyme, finished with lemon. Spring beginning to arrive in the pot.

The ragù was for the notebook — the thing I made and tasted and wrote down because it felt like the right record of the moment. But the dish I keep coming back to this time of year, the one that’s actually on the table on a Tuesday after a long calving shift, is this sausage and asparagus pasta. Asparagus is up along the edge of the garden at the same time the cold frame herbs are coming in, and the whole thing comes together in the time it takes the pasta water to boil. It’s not a slow-cooked dish. It’s a dish that trusts the season to do most of the work.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

12 oz penne or rigatoni pasta
1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed
1 bunch asparagus (about 1 lb), tough ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
Salt and black pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions

Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water before draining.
Brown the sausage. While pasta cooks, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook, breaking it into pieces, until browned and cooked through, about 6–8 minutes. Transfer to a plate, leaving drippings in the pan.
Cook the asparagus. Add asparagus to the same skillet over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender and lightly browned, about 4–5 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
Build the sauce. Pour in white wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Let it reduce by half, about 2 minutes. Add chicken broth and cream and bring to a gentle simmer. Return sausage to the pan.
Finish and combine. Add drained pasta to the skillet and toss to coat, adding reserved pasta water a splash at a time if the sauce needs loosening. Stir in Parmesan and lemon zest. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
Serve. Divide among bowls and top with fresh parsley, extra Parmesan, and a crack of black pepper.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sausage Asparagus Pasta — The Season Arriving in the Pot