Riverside Recipes: HungryCityHippy's Tagliatelle with Onion, Peas & Spring Asparagus

To celebrate our 25th anniversary at Riverside last year, we asked customers, friends and traders past and present to share some of their favourite market recipes with us; this springtime recipe comes from Jane Cook (local food blogger at HungryCityHippy) and uses fresh asparagus from our markets for a quick dinner.

She said “I wanted to share a recipe which uses one of my favourite ingredients – organic Welsh asparagus. The UK season is short so I go mad on the stuff when it’s available; I always pick mine up from Paul’s Veg at Riverside Market, which is grown in Monmouthshire.

This recipe uses freshly made egg pasta, which if you’ve never tried making before, I really recommend - you don’t even need a pasta maker, though it does make life easier. I go by this recipe from Antonio Carluccio: Fresh Egg Pasta.”

INGREDIENTS

  • 30ml extra virgin olive oil

  • 150g fresh tagliatelle pasta

  • 1 white onion, peeled and finely diced

  • 75g garden peas (I used frozen here for ease)

  • 150g Welsh asparagus, chopped into 1cm pieces

  • 1 tbsp fresh, finely chopped, flat-leaf parsley

  • 25g Parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), freshly grated

  • Salt to taste

METHOD

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and fry gently until soft, about 6-8 minutes. Add the asparagus, and 100ml water, and braise until tender (around 10 minutes). Add the frozen peas, and salt to taste.

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water for 3 minutes – fresh pasta cooks really quickly so be careful not to over do it! Drain the pasta well, then mix with the sauce.

Add the fresh parsley, then divide between two bowls. Sprinkle over the cheese (be generous) and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. I like to add some black pepper before serving.

Jane Cook