Pasta w/Poached Egg, Asparagus, & Lemon {Wanna Be A Country Cleaver}

We have another special guest at the table today. Let me introduce you to Megan of Wanna Be A Country Cleaver! I’m sure y’all know her, right?! If not, you MUST head over to her blog. She’s absolutely amazing and comes up with the awesomest recipes. She is such a doll too. We said that if we were ever to meet, we’d definitely be buds. Her wedding is coming up in August and I’m so so excited for her. She’s going to rock that dress and look so fabulously stunning!! Megan is seriously one of the sweetest people I’ve ever “met.” I think we both have similar sense of humors, which is probably why we get along so well. Ah, can’t wait to meet you Megan! And thank you SO much for guest posting!! This pasta sounds out of this world! Do you deliver?!

Hello, Lovelies! With Julie working away on the new place (hooray new digs!), lifting boxes (don’t hurt your back!) and finding places for all of her kitchen things (there’s never enough space for blogging props!) she asked me to step up to the proverbial plate and share a recipe with you I have fallen head over heels for.

For those who might not know me, I’m Megan from Wanna Be A Country Cleaver – the labradork owning, axe swinging, country loving city-residing girl that is fending off my fat pants in every conceivable way.

Julie and I became fast friends a few months ago bonding over good food, sarcasm and mutual love of all things wedding. Make that “mutual stress and panic of all things wedding”… So when she asked me to stop by Table for Two and visit with you all I jumped at the chance to meet so many of her friends and fans. The girl is nothing short of awesome, wouldn’t you say? Agreed.

If you do happen to know me, the worst kept secret in the world is my adoration and obsession with hollandaise (and the Royals, but that’s another story all together). If you can’t put hollandaise on something warm and savory, you might as well not make it.  But with a wedding coming in t-minus 72 days (panic!), a girl has got to cut back if she’s going to rock the wedding dress the way it was meant to be rocked.

Instead, I whipped up a quick weeknight meal inspired by one seen in Everyday Food that fed my hollandaise-esque obsession without all the guilty and shame of the real thing.

Opting for whole wheat pasta instead of the traditional white variety kept my blood sugar a bit more in check, the flash boiled asparagus added the essential greenery and vegg to the dish and instead of the called for scrambled egg, a poached egg was added on top so it would ooze it’s runny yolk all over the noodles in a very seductive fashion. What? Runny eggs can be seductive.  With the final flourish of spritzed lemon juice over the top you have a meal ready for a week night and a girl trying to zip into her jeans. No shame, no guilt and a little dash of luxury even on those busy nights.  And if you’re feeling like a rebel, add some shrimp to this beauty. It’s 11/10.

Thank you again everyone for visiting me today, and a big, hearty thank you to Julie for being an A+ friend, inspiration and fabulous comrade in food blogging. You are a rock star. Totes.

See you all around the blogosphere or at Wanna Be A Country Cleaver. Enjoy!

Also be sure to find Megan on Twitter and Facebook!

Pasta w/Poached Egg, Asparagus, & Lemon

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Yield: 4 servings | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 pound whole wheat thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta

1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1″ pieces

4 tbsp. olive oil, divided

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup low-fat ricotta

4 eggs, for poaching

1 tsp. white vinegar

1 pound shrimp, cleaned, cooked, and chopped (optional)

1 lemon, halved

Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. In pot, boil water and cook pasta 1 minute below recommended time. Add in chopped asparagus and cook with pasta for one addition minute. Scoop out ½ cup of the pasta water and set aside. Drain pasta and asparagus. Toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Set aside and keep warm.
2. In pot, heat remaining olive oil and add pasta water. Stir in ricotta, Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste. When cheese has melted and incorporated, toss sauce and pasta. Plate in shallow bowls.
3. To poach eggs: In a large sauté pan, fill with water so the depth of the water is about 2”. Add in vinegar and bring to a rapid simmer. Crack eggs, one at a time, and put into a small bowl. VERY gently slip each egg into the water and using a spoon gingerly corral the egg whites so they don’t get away. Simmer for 2-3 minutes or until the whites are totally set. Remove gently from water with large slotted spoon and allow excess water to drip away. Place on top of pasta. Add cooked and chopped shrimp if desired. Spritz egg and pasta with lemon juice and additional salt and pepper, if desired.
4. Promptly devour.

Source: Adapted from Everyday Food, April 2012