Spring Vegetable Whole Wheat Fettuccine

Here is a dish that likely looks quite familiar to something we have made in the past - fresh pasta, farmer's market cheese, vegetables. Simple and fabulous. This time, however, Spring has sprung! So our selection of vegetables went beyond the typical tomato and basil combination. Asparagus and butter lettuce starred in this refreshing and light-enough pasta meal.

In a previous post, I featured the fresh pasta brand that we like to pick up at the Farmer's Market - Santa Cruz Pasta Factory, www.santacruzpastafactory.com. Their products never disappoint.

This time, I'll feature the cheese that I'm simply head-over-heels for.

Nicasio Valley Cheese Company - Foggy Morning Cheese

Foggy Morning : A fresh cow’s milk cheese. Extremely versatile, it’s delicious on its own, or matched with pasta, salads, pizza, olive oil and cracked pepper, fruit or jams

When they say fresh, they mean fresh - as in within a week! If you haven't had cheese that fresh, well then you need to get on it!! At $7 per round of this cheese, it is a great deal.

To pull together all of the components of this dish, I did the following:

Asparagus (about 1/2 bunch), trimmed and cut into 1 to 1.5 in. pieces
Tomatoes (about 4 small), cut into sixths and seeds removed
Peas (frozen, probably 1/4 cup)
Corn (frozen, probably 1/4 cup)
Butter Lettuce (about 1/2 head, washed, dried, and torn into bite sized pieces)
Spring Garlic (1 bulb), cut into thin rounds
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
EVOO
Fresh Whole Wheat Fettuccine
Fresh Cow's Milk Cheese, crumbled
(six ingredients from the Farmer's Market)

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Toss asparagus with a little lemon olive oil (or regular EVOO) and salt. Roast for about 6 minutes. Remove, sprinkle with a little pepper, and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat some EVOO over medium low heat in a large pan and add the spring garlic. Cook until translucent. Add corn and peas. Stir to heat through. Add lemon zest and juice. Add tomatoes, butter lettuce, and asparagus., Keep on low heat - you don't want to wilt the lettuce, but you do want to toss around the flavors. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a separate pot, bring salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions (about 3 minutes for our fresh pasta). Drain and rinse.

Add pasta to vegetable mix. Toss to incorporate all ingredients.

Transfer pasta to a plate and top with crumbled cheese and a sprinkling of fleur de sel.

Welcome back Spring!