This pasta was inspired by a Giada De Laurentiis episdoe of Everyday Italian. The original recipe, called Thimbles with Mushrooms and Artichokes, has pasta with a creamy, light Marsala sauce. I updated the recipe with asparagus instead of artichokes and added some garlic. Instead of “thimble” pasta, any twisty shape pasta will work. I used a corkscrew shaped pasta, one of my favorites. Try this for a quick and tasty dinner.

3 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt, plus 3/4 tsp
1 lb mushrooms, trimmed, cleaned, and finely chopped
1 cup dry Marsala wine
1 lb pasta
1/2 lb fresh asparagus, halved lengthwise and crosswise
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Place the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and 1 tsp of the salt. Saute, stirring occasionally, until all the moisture has evaporated and the mushrooms have cooked down, about 10 minutes. Add the Marsala and continue cooking until almost all the wine has evaporated, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Stir in remaining 3/4 tsp salt. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the asparagus and continue to cook until pasta is tender but still firm to the bite and asparagus is crisp-tender, another 5 minutes. Drain the pasta and add it into the mushrooms, Marsala, and onions. Add the cream and Parmesan and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley and pepper.

Serve immediately, topped with additional Parmesan if desired.

Now that the holidays have come and gone, it’s time to get back to regular life. With all the festivities at hand, the postings have slowed down a little bit. Don’t worry! I hope to be back next week with some all new posts.

I’m also searching for any cool food news or articles, and hope to make some more topical posts in the new year. I’ll be trying out new recipes, of course, but I also want to go back and explore some of my favorites and perhaps highlight some of the most requested dishes.

In the meantime, here is an interesting article that was featured on Slashfood: 21 ways to use old coffee grounds, from Green Daily. Green Daily is a cool site that posts eco-friendly tips and ideas, some related to food and others not. Want to read more? Check out this post on Antarctica’s Adelie penguins.

Thanks for all of your support in 2007! Jenn’s Cook Book is getting close to 4000 hits, with December hitting a record number of almost 860. Keep visiting for updates and more fun with food.