Rigatoni + Asparagus = Heaven!

Hi friends!

So I am recovering from a curious ailment that involves fever and throat stuff and body aches/pains. How I acquired this is between me and the source, but I think I am turning a corner and all will be well soon. Fevers are fun things anyway, you get to feel like you are on drugs without the drugs! ("I feel funky" *fingersnap* -- holla to the 16 Candles fans out there!) Also, dreaming is X 100 weirder. To the folks on that plane ride we were on last night, sorry for all the screaming!

In the meantime, it's becoming asparagus season it seems and thus, I wanted to share with you my favorite asparagus recipe. I could have sworn I already posted this, but alas, it wasn't under my handy 'recipe' tag and therefore, if I did post it, it's dead to me now. I don't have time running it down and I'm much rather just post it properly and be done with it. Plus, I have an asparagus story that is dying to be retold.

[Imagine me circa 1992, youthful grad student newly arrived to the Great Plains but suffering a unidimensional palette regarding food. We were a meat/potato family, few other veggies, and nothing too spicy or weird. I literally took PB&J to elementary school every day. In other words: Typical Midwestern Indiana Hoosier upbringing. Seriously. I had never literally seen asparagus in my world growing up. So, during the 90's, I hung out a lot with my previously mentioned friend M and her boyfriend/now husband P. We did lots and lots of cooking and wine drinking and drugs. Whoops. I mean of the legal variety like Tylenol for the wine hang overs and such. You know what I'm saying? Anyway, M&P introduced me to a Whole New World in more ways than one. P taught me how to play guitar, I went camping for the first time with them, and we cooked the shit out of stuff. I spent more time at their place than mine and we'd never really eat until 9 or 10. Cooking was a leisurely event, it was social, we'd have music going, it is what cooking is meant to be with friends. It was good. So one time, probably right around now, springish or something, we were going to grill out. M handed me a bunch of asparagus and told me to prep it to steam on the grill. You know how you're supposed to bend it a bit and let it break naturally and discard the ends? So I am doing that and I have two piles, the big ends and the frondy tips. I just figure that bigger is better and that we would be eating those ends. So I dump out the frondy tip ends in the garbage. This is a story that is oft-repeated with much mockery TO THIS DAY. I am reclaiming the shame now by repeating it myself. I now own it. Yes, I was naive, yes I did not know better. Now I do. So after instant mockery and much laughing at me, we rescued the best parts of asparagus from the garbage, gave them a good rinse and went about the business of cooking/drinking/whatevs. And that, my friend, is the story of how I learned to stop hating veggies and love the asparagus. True, dat]

Which brings me to this delicious recipe that is fast and easy and tasty and spring-like and for which I trust you will try because you know it's gonna be good and takes very little effort and I worry when you don't eat.

Rigatoni with Asparagus and Sun-dried Tomatoes

Ingrediants:

1. Rigatoni (1 1/2 cup or two, enough to fill a rectangle baking dish)
2. Asparagus (the frondy bits! the frondy bits! and actually most of it except the very big ends..cut in bite sized pieces)
3. Medium white onion (cut in bite sized pieces)
4. hydrated sun-dried tomatoes
5. Olive oil
6. Balsamic vinegar
7. Parmesan cheese
8. Seasoned bread crumbs
9. Black pepper


Prep:

Heat oven to 350 and boil water to cook the rigatoni while you are prepping the other stuff. Cut up onion, asparagus, and SD tomatoes. In a pyrex baking dish (8 X 11 or whatever), add a good amt of olive oil..maybe half a cup for now. Add in the onions and coat them all up. Put in oven and let them cook by themselves for about 5-7 minutes. Pour yourself another glass of wine and turn up the music a little more. Grate the parmesan cheese if needed. If you're all fancy, use some of that parmigiano reggiano. Pull out the pan and mix in the asparagi (as we like to call it..aspara-guy) and SD toms. Make sure they are well coated in olive oil, add more if needed. Put back in oven for 5-7 more minutes. This is not exact science. Have some wine, is it good? How you doing? Drain the rigantoni and rinse it well. Pull out the pan and mix in the pasta (or pass-ta as they say in other places). Maybe add a bit more olive oil, you decide. Be generous now with your balsamic vinegar, more if you like it lots, less if you just want a hint. Crushed black pepper over it all. Mix it up good. Now put in the parmesan. Do not be shy about cheese, really. So go at it. Mix it well. Now sprinkle the bread crumbs on top and if you mixed up some more cheese in the breadcrumbs, I will not tell anyone. Put this back in the oven and let bake for oh..10-15 minutes? See the thing is, you are just melting the cheese, but you can't ruin it if you cook it a little longer while you are selecting a new CD or opening another bottle of wine. Of course, do not forget about it because you are engaged in a conversation about time/space and let it bake for 30 minutes or some such, it will dry out and you will be sad. Maybe you could spend that time putting together a nice salad. Maybe you are prepping some garlic butter bread to put in with it. All is good. Does that not sound tasty? Are you not hungry now? It's asparagus season, knock yourself out. Just don't throw away the good bits!