sopressa, pea & asparagus pasta

Ah, the first scary post.

I am not usually a big pasta eater but I had a craving the other night for some comfort food but also something that was quite fresh.

2x lasagne sheets

1/2 bunch of asparagus

1/2 cup of peas

2x slices of sopressa, thinly sliced

1 eschallot, 

1/8 cup of light cream

Zest of 1/2 lemon and a slice to serve

5 balls of baby bocconcini

Dash of olive oil

S&P

Pinch of fresh oregano - optional

Dry fry the thinly sliced sopressa in a pan until crispy.  Remove and rest on a paper towel.  Cut the bottom 1/4 of the asparagus stalks off as these tend to be quite husky.  Slice remainder of asparagus into small pieces.  Blanch asparagus and peas in a pot together, strain and run under cold water to cease the cooking process.  Break up the lasagne sheets into small pieces, try to keep them the same size so that the cooking is kept even.  Bring a pot of water to boil for the pasta, ensure you have enough water so that the pasta can move around freely and not get stuck together.  Saute eschallot in a medium heat pan with a dash of olive oil, add the drained peas and asparagus.  Whilst this is heating, sprinkle the pasta sheets into the boiling water (sprinkled so that the pasta does not clump together).  Add the lemon zest, cream, baby bocconcini balls and salt and pepper to the peas and asparagus.  Let the cream thicken a little so that it will coat the pasta sufficiently.  Check your pasta, it should be al dente, if so drain and add to the pan with the sauce.  Remove pan from the heat.  Add the fresh oregano at this stage and stir the pasta until well coated, serve into a bowl, sprinkle on your crispy sopressa and squeeze your slice of lemon over the top.  Eat before it gets cold.