Lemon Feta Asparagus Linguine

Boil linguine- pasta in salted water according to the package instructions, until ONE MINUTE BEFORE AL DENTE. (You’ll be saving 1 cup of pasta water, before you drain the pasta.)

For your sauce, while the pasta is cooking, in another bowl whisk together the lemon-zest, lemon-juice & olive oil together till well blended. Add in the feta and a decent amount of black-pepper and mix well till the sauce becomes creamy, especially the feta.

Cut asparagus in pieces, cut the ends first and throw those out, use all but the woody ends, they’re too tough. In a large pan that will fit ALL THE INGREDIENTS, heat over medium-high heat. Add asparagus, olive oil and garlic, and cook for about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper and cook till asparagus is tender, yet crisp. Remove asparagus and put back into the bowl.

Using the same skillet, reduce heat to lo, then add the sauce mixture and the pasta. Gently toss and coat the pasta with the sauce, allowing the feta cheese to fully melt. Spoon a tablespoon of pasta water at a time till it reaches your desired sauce consistency. (The starchy water from the pasta sauce helps thicken the sauce with no added calories.)

Add the asparagus and give the pasta a final toss. Top with extra feta cheese if you like, add salt and pepper on top as well if you like. Serve immediately.

Ingredients

• 8oz of uncooked linguine-pasta

• 1/2 cup feta-cheese, crumbled (extra feta if topping pasta w/feta. Buy feta in a block and crumble it yourself, block feta tastes MUCH BETTER, buy it in brine if you can)

• cracked black pepper (generous w/the pepper, I added more after I tasted the meal)

• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (divided, 4 for sauce, 1 for asparagus)

• 1 tablespoon lemon zest

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

• Buschel asparagus (woody ends cut off.), cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

• salt and pepper to taste, mostly pepper

• 2-6 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 cup salted, starchy pasta water