Experiments in pasta

(A modified epicurious recipe.)

The prep work: One bunch of asparagus, peeled and sliced diagonally. Half an onion, chopped. One lemon, zested. A third of a pound of smoked salmon, sliced.

The cooking: The asparagus was boiled for 3 minutes in a big pot of salted water, taken out with a slotted spoon, and plunged into cold water so it stopped cooking. Then, in the same pot of salted water that was used for the asparagus, half a pound of linguine was cooked. While that was going, the onion was sauteed over low heat in some butter and olive oil until soft (5 minutes). One cup of heavy cream and the zest was added to the onions and cooked until thickened, about 10 minutes. Two tablespoons of lemon juice, the asparagus, and the salmon was added, and heated through.

The tasting: It was missing something. Paprika, thyme, salt, pepper, more olive oil fixed this. Into all this went the pasta, and there it was.

The eating: Definitely different from the usual tomato-sauces. Pretty good, but next time I'm thinking more garlic.