Rigatoni with Peas, Asparagus and Ricotta - Donna Hay

Whoopee!  This is my week to choose and I picked Rigatoni with Peas, Asparagus and Ricotta. ( Modern Classics 1- p 130. This did not come easily for me since, as some of you are aware, hubby despises asparagus.  When we got married, he told me, there were a few food, he considered non edible.  They were chicken, asparagus and tuna.  Fortunately, he likes chicken now and attributes his dislike to his mother's cooking.  His Mom was known for both under cooking and overcooking but to be honest, I can't remember anything, she made that was either.  She was as plain cook with satisfactory meals, in my opinion.  Of course, there is an advantage to hubby not liking his mother's food.  He appreciates my meals.

At first, I thought, I would leave out the asparagus, then I decided to put one stalk in his dish and then, I thought, too bad, once a year, we can have asparagus.  I discovered, I really like it.  After all these years of avoiding it, I was surprised by how flavorful it is.  I put some in a dish, for another group, about a year ago but I nibbled, expecting the worse.  This time, I dove in and enjoyed.

This is a simple dish with asparagus, peas, ricotta, pasta, Parmesan, black pepper and salt.  You make a sauce out of half of the peas in the dish by mashing them.  This was a good dish but I am not sure I see the point of both green vegetables.  I would have preferred the peas with corn or tomatoes.

Check out the dishes from the other ladies and enjoy.
Margaret        Kayte          Gaye