With all the fresh veggies available you could swap anything of the veggies listed below with most anything you could find in the market: like fresh peas, or haricot verts, or radishes, it is endless. The selection I used in the recipe below are most of our favorites but experiment and have fun. Also to make this Keto swap out the pasta for zucchini spirals.
Ingredients
2 pints of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1lb of pasta, cooked as directed on package to al dente -
1 cup Romano cheese, freshly grated plus more for garnish
2/3 cup of half & half
1/2 cup of dried morels
1/2 lb of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch lengths
1/3 cup of toasted pine nuts or pistachios (chopped)
1/4 cup of unsalted butter
1/4 cup of fresh Italian parsley, chopped and stems removed
1/4 cup of fresh basil, chopped and stems removed plus more leaves for garnish
4 cloves of garlic minced and divided
1 tablespoon of white balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
Red pepper flakes to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive oil
Directions
Soak morels in warm water for about an hour, drain and strain the water and set aside. Wrap morels in paper towels and squeeze out any access water, chop, and remove any hard stems.
Blanch the asparagus and set aside.
Start pasta as directed on the package.
In a large deep skillet over medium heat add a nice drizzle of olive oil, half the garlic, pinch of red pepper flakes, and saute for a minute or so, until garlic is fragrant, now add asparagus and saute for an additional 2 minutes, remove contents to a bowl and cover.
In the same skillet drizzle some more olive oil, add the remaining garlic, and the tomatoes, a pinch more of red pepper flakes, saute for about 3 to 4 minutes or until tomatoes start to soften, add in vinegar, a few 3 to 4 tablespoons of warm water, lemon zest, season, and saute for an additional 3 minutes, remove contents to bowl with asparagus, cover.
In the same skillet add the butter, half & half, morels and saute for about 2 minutes, next add the cheese and the pasta, tossing to coat all the pasta, add the reserved morels water as need, you do not want the sauce to be too thick. Next, add the veggies, toss, now add the herbs and the nuts, toss again and transfer to a large serving bowl, garnish with basil leaves and more cheese.
Keto
To make this keto use about 3 medium zucchini, spiralized, skip the pasta cooking part and right before adding the butter, half & half and morels to skillet, drizzle a bit of olive in the skillet, saute zucchini for about 2 minutes, remove, then add the butter, half & half, morels and saute for 2 minutes, then add the zucchini back with the cheese, tossing to coat all the pasta, add the reserved morels water as need, you do not want the sauce to be too thick. Next, add the veggies, toss, now add the herbs and the nuts, toss again and transfer to a large serving bowl, garnish with basil leaves and more cheese.