Tortellini with Asparagus — The Kitchen Knows It’s Fall

Senior year has begun. I walked into school on Monday in what Tanya called my "first day of last year" energy, which she said approvingly. Our lockers are adjacent for the third year running, which feels like something the universe arranged on purpose. She has new poems started on scraps of paper stuffed in her backpack and she showed me two of them in the hallway before homeroom and one of them made me stop walking. She has gotten so good. I told her so and she looked at her shoes the way she does when she believes the compliment but doesn't know what to do with it.

Senior AP classes: AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, and AP Environmental Science Literature — a research writing course Mr. Guidry created for students interested in science communication. There are six of us in it and we meet in his classroom at the end of the building with the windows that look out over the practice field. The first assignment is a 2,000-word personal essay about how we came to care about what we care about environmentally. I have been writing this essay in my head my whole life.

Mr. Guidry pulled me aside after class to say he'd heard about the LSU internship and the science competition and the national essay award and that he was glad I was in his class because some students write science the way you'd write a technical manual and others write it the way you'd write a letter to someone you love and I was in the second category. I thanked him and didn't say anything else for a moment and he nodded like he understood I was sitting with it.

Daddy made his chicken and dumplings on Wednesday. School started and the kitchen remembered. Thick dumplings, simple but exactly right, pulled from the pot in white clouds of soft dough, the chicken shredding in the broth, the whole thing warming in the way that fall approaching needs to be warmed toward. Louisiana September is still summer by temperature but in the kitchen, something knows it's fall.

Daddy’s chicken and dumplings set the tone for the whole week — that idea that something soft and pillowy pulled from a warm pot can mark a turning point without making a fuss about it. I wanted to carry that same feeling into my own kitchen, and this tortellini with asparagus and lemon does exactly that: the pasta has that same cloud-like bite, the broth-bright lemon pulls everything together the way fall light does, and the whole thing comes together quickly enough that there’s still time to sit with the week and what it meant.

Tortellini with Asparagus & Lemon

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb refrigerated or fresh cheese tortellini
• 1 lb fresh asparagus, tough ends trimmed, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine or low-sodium chicken broth
• Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for pasta water
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions

1. Boil the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook tortellini according to package directions until just tender, usually 3 to 5 minutes. During the last 2 minutes of cooking, add the asparagus pieces directly to the pot. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water before draining. Drain and set aside.
2. Build the sauce. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes if using, and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until fragrant but not browned.
3. Deglaze. Pour in the white wine or broth and let it simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping up any bits from the bottom of the pan, until slightly reduced.
4. Add lemon. Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice. Season with salt and black pepper.
5. Combine. Add the drained tortellini and asparagus to the skillet and toss gently to coat. If the sauce seems too thick, add splashes of reserved pasta water a tablespoon at a time until it reaches a loose, silky consistency.
6. Finish and serve. Remove from heat. Stir in the Parmesan and parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning. Divide among bowls and top with extra Parmesan.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 420 | Protein: 18g | Fat: 16g | Carbs: 52g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 580mg