*A delicious edit: Add pancetta for a savory addition!

During this crazy shelter-in-place time, there have been evenings where we needed to get creative about dinner. This little experiment turned out so well I thought I’d keep it around. It’s pretty much stuff we just had around the house. So I’m calling this Asparagus Piccata, but it isn’t breaded at all. It’s basically any kind of pasta you like topped with blanched asparagus and piccata sauce – make it vegan by substituting butter with Earth Balance and leaving off the grated cheese (even if it is really good, imported sheep milk parmesan.) I imagine there are lots of other veggies you could also substitute if you wanted. (I haven’t tried that yet.)

Blanch the asparagus: that just means cut it into pieces and boil it for 30 seconds – 1 minute, then plunge it into cold water to stop the cooking. (I usually don’t bother with the cold water for this – I just let them stay hot.)

                      

A great use for a piccata sauce, which is so easy:

• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup white wine (we all have wine around right now)
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice (or until the gods tell you to stop)
• 1 tbsp. butter (or Earth Balance if you’re dairy free/vegan)
• 2-4 tsp. capers (ok, not everyone keeps these around. I have family members who love capers, tho.)

Just heat everything together. It isn’t as good if you leave out the lemon, but you can. Capers are a personal preference. I think the cheese pulls it all together really well, but you know, eat what you want.  🙂

*To add pancetta (that’s Italian bacon and most grocery stores/deli counters will have it): sauté pancetta in the pot that you’ll make the sauce in. NOM!