Description

Fancy dinners don't mean lots of expensive ingredients and a lot of time in the kitchen. Make this super simple pasta dish that has a delicious sauce and wonderful ingredients.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. uncooked farfalle pasta
• 1 c. reserved hot pasta water from cooking
• 3 T. unsalted butter
• 1 lb. cremini, baby bella or morel mushrooms, wiped off, trimmed and sliced
• 1 lb. thin asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
• 1 c. mascarpone cheese*
• pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 3/4 c. toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped, divided
• 4-5 slices cooked bacon, coarsely chopped
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 to 1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Steps

1. Add pasta to a pot of well salted boiling water, stirring often to prevent pasta from sticking together, cooking until tender but still firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain; reserve 1 c. hot pasta liquid.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat; add mushrooms; sauté until tender and most of the juices have evaporated, about 5 minutes.
3. Add asparagus; sauté until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the mascarpone and nutmeg. Add pasta; toss until cheese coats the pasta, adding the reserved cooking liquid 1/4 c. at a time to moisten. Stir in 1/2 c. walnuts and bacon. Season to taste with salt and pepper.