Sweet Potato Pappardelle con Salsa di Noci

I love Pike Place Market here in Seattle. One of my favorite Saturday activities is to go browse the market for an afternoon, listening to buskers play, watching the fish throwers at Pike Place Fish, inhaling the essence of lavender at the All Things Lavender shop, browsing to my heart's content, and finishing off the afternoon by picking up fresh ingredients for dinner.

Here's the result of one such afternoon. Grabbed some asparagus from a produce stand, prosciutto from DeLaurenti’s (my favorite Italian shop in the market), and Sweet Potato Pasta from Pappardelle’s Pasta. Yup. It'll leave ya lickin' yer chops!


Sweet Potato Pappardelle con Salsa di Noci

1 lb. Pappardelle’s Sweet Potato Pappardelle Pasta
1 clove garlic, minced
7 oz. shelled walnuts, finely chopped
4 tablespoons butter, unsalted
7 oz. marscapone or cream cheese
¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Dry pasta:





1. Melt butter in skillet and sauté garlic until it is golden brown. Add walnuts, stir for 3 minutes and remove entire contents from heat.

2. Meanwhile, cook pasta in 6-8 quarts of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente (about 8-10 minutes).

3. While pasta is cooking, add the marscapone or cream cheese to the walnut mixture and heat gently throughout.

4. Drain the pasta (do not rinse), toss in the grated Parmesan and transfer to a heated serving dish. Stir in the sauce and serve at once.

Serves 6

Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus

Before:






Wrap 2-3 stalks asparagus in 2 slices of prosciutto. Roast in a 400°ish oven for 10 minutes or so, turning once. Enjoy. Note: This is the best way on Earth to make asparagus. Hands down. You don’t need to brush the asparagus with olive oil or anything else – the prosciutto yields just enough juice to give it the moisture it needs. And it is SO GOOD.

After:




Complete meal: