RECIPE: Tagliatelle with Asparagus, Brown Butter and Almonds

Looks like browned butter with nuts is my new party trick. I'd been eyeing the tagliatelle at TJ's for a while and I caved and bought a package. We had some asparagus that the boy's mommy sent us home with that needed to be eaten. Here's what I did.

I think that I started off with a pound or so of fat spears. My new asparagus trick is to snap off the ends instead of cut them off. The spear seems to know which part is good for eating and which part is good for stock. Then the spears were cut into quarter lengths. Boil up some salted water, threw in 8oz of pasta. While cooking the pasta, 8 minutes only , not the 10-12 the instructions said, I melted about 4 TB butter in a saute pan and added about 1/4 cup of slivered almonds. I let the butter and nuts brown a bit before taking the pan off the heat and adding the zest of a Meyer lemon. I would have preferred a Eureka for its tartness, but one works with what one has. Also, how ridiculous is it that I'm complaining about having too many Meyer lemons? I am spoiled. 2 minutes before the pasta's done, I added the trimmed asparagus. Drain the pasta and veg together, threw back in the pot. Salted, peppered, buttered squirted with lemon, and Parmesan cheesed.

I loved the texture of the pasta, very satiny. I felt like I was eating ribbons. Delicious! I will definitely make again, probably with more butter and nuts.