Spaghetti with Asparagus Frittata
Asparagus frittata and pasta . . . If you think you have seen a recipe of mine that sounds like this one, you are right. In an earlier book I gave a recipe for an “Asparagus Frittata with Capellini.” And here’s “Spaghetti with Asparagus Frittata.” But they are not at all the same, even though the ingredients are nearly identical. In the earlier recipe, a bit of leftover cooked pasta is stirred into a frittata as it cooks and bakes into a tender cake, which is then served in wedges. Here you have a quick skillet pasta. In fact, it is a “two-skillet” pasta. In the big skillet you make a very simple sauce with oil, scallions, and pasta water. In another skillet, you scramble up a soft frittata with sautéed asparagus. You also cook a pot of spaghetti. When everything is tossed together—in the big skillet—the textures, tastes, and colors blend beautifully. Follow the recipe instructions for coordinating the cooking the first time you make this. Once you see and sense how everything goes together, you’ll have added a truly wonderful dish to your repertoire of family recipes. This is a good dish to make with fresh homemade egg pastas, such as fettuccine, garganelli, pappardelle, capellini, spaghettini. Instead of asparagus, you could use another vegetable in your frittata, such as zucchini, broccoli, or just onions; or ham, prosciutto, or bacon. Or have a plain frittata.
*You can cook the frittata ahead. But it will solidify when it cools, so you will have to cut it into small pieces before adding it to the pasta.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 6 or more
Ingredients
For the Simple Sauce
For the Frittata
For the Pasta and Finishing
Recommended Equipment
Preparation
Prepping
Step 1
Start heating 6 quarts of water with 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt in the pasta cooking pot.
Step 2
Have all the ingredients for the simple sauce measured and at hand. Have both skillets on the stove, ready to start cooking.
Step 3
For the frittata, snap off the tough bottom stubs of the asparagus and peel the thick skin from the lower 4 inches of each spear. Slice the spears, including the tips, crosswise or slightly on the diagonal, into 1/8-inch-thick rounds or ovals. You should have 2 cups of small asparagus pieces.
Step 4
Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them well with the milk, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and several grinds of black pepper.
Making the Sauce
Step 5
Pour the 1/3 cup olive oil into the big pasta skillet, scatter the garlic slices in the oil, and set over medium heat. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes or so, shaking the pan now and then, until the garlic is sizzling and starting to color.
Step 6
Toss the scallions into the skillet, stir with the garlic and oil, and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, over medium heat, until the scallions are very soft and wilted and the garlic is golden. While the scallions are cooking, stir in 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper.
Step 7
Take 2 cups of boiling water from the pasta pot and pour it into the skillet. Stir up the scallions and garlic, and adjust the heat so the liquid is simmering gently.
Cooking the Frittata and the Spaghetti (and the Sauce) Simultaneously*
Step 8
Pour the 1/4 cup of olive oil into the empty non-stick skillet, scatter in the sliced asparagus, and turn on medium heat. Let the pieces heat and start to sizzle, about 2 minutes; stir and toss now and then.
Step 9
As soon as you’ve started the asparagus, push the spaghetti into the boiling water. Stir as it softens, and bring the water back to the boil as rapidly as possible. Start timing the pasta to under cook as required, about 8 minutes.
Step 10
Now take 1/4 cup or so of water from the pasta pot and pour it in with the sizzling asparagus. Season with grinds of black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Stir, toss, and cook the slices until they’re cooked through but still bright green, about 4 minutes. Moisten with more pasta water if the slices seem dry.
Step 11
While the spaghetti and the asparagus cook, make sure there’s a good layer of simmering liquid in the scallion-sauce skillet; add more pasta water if needed.
Step 12
When the asparagus slices are tender, turn down the heat a bit and pour in the eggs. Let set for about 1/2 minute, then stir the thickening eggs and the asparagus with a wooden spoon. Continue turning the curds over for a minute, so they are evenly heated but still quite wet and soft. Remove from the heat.
Step 13
Check the spaghetti; when it is almost but not quite al dente, lift the pasta from the pot and drop it into the simmering simple sauce.
Step 14
Raise the heat if it was very low, and add more hot pasta water if the pasta seems dry. Toss and cook the spaghetti and scallion sauce together for 1/2 minute, mixing well.
Step 15
Scrape the frittata on top of the pasta and toss it in, breaking the frittata into small pieces. If any eggs are stuck in the pan, loosen them with a slosh of pasta water and toss that into the pasta skillet too.
Step 16
Toss for a minute or more, still over heat, until the pasta is perfectly cooked and the frittata is well distributed.
Step 17
Remove the skillet from the heat, drizzle 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil over, and toss. Sprinkle on the grated cheese and toss. Grind black pepper on abundantly.
Step 18
Serve right away.
Another Skillet Pasta Lesson: Tossing in Grated Cheese
Step 19
When adding cheese, take the pan off the heat before you toss it in. Otherwise, the cheese can overheat and separate into oily and stringy components.
Step 20
I always recommend either Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano for finishing a past with cheese. Keep either or both as staples in your refrigerator.
Serving Skillet Pastas
Step 21
Pasta dishes should always be served hot, as soon as the dish is finished.
Step 22
For family meals, I bring the skillet to the table and serve portions directly into warm bowls.
Step 23
For more formal occasions, I dish it up into warm bowls in the kitchen and bring them quickly to the table. The shorter the trek from the hot skillet to the individual bowl, the better.
Step 24
Be sure to pass a bowl of freshly grated cheese around the table.
