(My husband gets a little more adventurous with recipes than I do, he did follow this one to the T- I was surprised at how much I liked it! It is a great dish and the asparagus was cooked to perfection!)
*this serves 4 to 6
*buy a hunk of pancetta instead of sliced (you buy it at the deli counter)
4 oz. pancetta, cut into 1/2 inch. pieces
1 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cut on bias into 2 inch lengths
1/8 tsp. salt, plus more for cooking pasta
1 garlic clove, minced
1 lb. penne pasta
8 oz. (1 c.) mascarpone cheese
1 oz. pecorino romano cheese, grated (1/2 c.) plus extra for serving
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. pepper
1/3 c. chopped fresh basil
Cook pancetta in 12" nonstick skillet over medium heat until lightly browned and crispy, about 10 min. Using slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to paper towel-lined plate, leaving fat in skillet
Heat fat over high heat until just smoking. Add asparagus and salt and cook, without stirring, until just starting to brown, about 3 min. Stir and continue to cook until asparagus is rowned and tender, about 2 min. longer. Take off heat and stir in garlic
Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 Tbsp. salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve 1 1/2 c. cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot over low heat.
Add mascarpone, pecorino, lemon juice, pepper, pancetta, asparagus and 1 c. reserved cooking water to pot and toss and stir vigorously to thoroughly combine, about 1 min. Let pasta rest off heat for 3 min. Stir in basil. Adjust consistency with remaining reserved cooking water as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, using extra Pecorino separately to add on top.
** we both said this would be even better with toasted pine nuts so next time we will add that
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