Ziti with Asparagus and Flounder
Asparagus is in season and they are gorgeous. I found this bunch at one of the organic vegetable stands at the Daniel Island Farmer’s Market . Expensive, but well worth it, local, fresh and delicious. I decided not to prepare this asparagus on its own as a side dish, but to put it over pasta, which was almost a shame cooking it to an olive green and into something else, but there will be more asparagus to come in the next few weeks, I hope.
Ziti with Asparagus and Flounder
- 1 lb fresh asparagus
- 2 fillets of flounder (I used frozen flounder)
- 1 cup of dry white wine
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- chopped parsley
- 1 lb ziti
- salt for pasta water
Break the ends of the asparagus stalks and discard, breaking the remaining asparagus into 1 inch pieces.
Heat olive oil in a wide saucepan over medium-high heat and add the whole cloves of garlic. When garlic starts to sizzle add the asparagus. Sauté the asparagus over high heat for a minute or two, add the white wine wine to the pan and bring to a boil. Add the flounder. I like to add the whole fillet, allowing it to cook before flaking it into the sauce with a wooden spoon, but you could also cut it up into small pieces before adding it to the asparagus.
In the meantime, fill a large pot with water for the pasta. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once the water starts to boil for the pasta add a small handful of salt to the water and bring to a rolling boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. When the pasta is perfectly al dente, turn up the heat on the sauce and drain the pasta. Without shaking all of the water out of the colander pour the pasta into the pan and toss it with the sauce. This allows for the pasta to cook a little longer in the sauce and to absorb the flavor.
Toss the chopped parsley into the pasta off the heat and serve immediately.
Italicious 