Recipe - Linguine with lemon and asparagus

​A very simple dish, reliant on good ingredients, so wait until early summer when asparagus is abundant, and you can get large, sweet, fragrant lemons from Italy. I specify a “hard cheese” here – I would normally use Parmesan or Pecorino in this recipe, but if you are vegetarian, it is now easy to find rennet-free alternatives.

Ingredients

250g linguine
300g asparagus, trimmed
30g butter
1 large lemon, Finely grated zest and juice
4 egg yolks
50g hard cheese, such as Parmesan or Pecorino
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and salt generously. Add the linguine and cook until just al dente. Drain, reserving a small cupful of the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, heat a griddle pan until it is as hot as you can get it – it should be too hot to hold your hand over comfortably. Wash the asparagus, shake off the excess liquid and put on the griddle. Drizzle with a little olive oil and grill for 3–4 minutes on each side. 

Remove and slice each spear in half on the diagonal.

​Melt the butter in the pasta pan then add the lemon zest. Turn the heat down as low as you can, then whisk the lemon juice and egg yolks into the butter, until you have an emulsion. Add some of the reserved pasta liquid, a tablespoon at a time, until you have a sauce the texture of single (light) cream – it should be silky-smooth and just coat the pasta when you add it without being cloying. Add the pasta and asparagus to the pan and toss to coat in the sauce.

Serve with plenty of black pepper, the cheese shaved over the top and enjoy!!!