Recipe- Asparagus, Goat Cheese, and Lemon Pasta

Honestly, I copied this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, whom I adore. She adapted it from Bon Appetit, whom I don't adore or give 2 shits about. Basically this makes a load o' pasta, enough for 6 or 7 at least. I wasn't the biggest fan of this recipe because I thought it was a bit on the bland side. Perhaps if I had used Sweetgrass Dairys fresh chevre then all would have been good, but I didn't so it seemed to be a bit goat cheesy bland. Whatevs... just telling it like it is. Anyhoo recipe below:

Ingredients
1 pkg spiral pasta
1 pound asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp finely grated lemon peel
2 tsp chopped fresh tarragon (FYI has a licorice type taste, substitute basil if you don't like tarragon)
1 5- to 5 1/2-ounce log soft fresh goat cheese (the pre-crumbled stuff will not melt as well)
1 - 2 tbsp Fresh lemon juice to taste


Cook your pasta in a large pot of well-salted water until it is almost tender, or about three minutes less than what the package suggests. Add asparagus and cook until firm-tender, another two to three minutes. Drain both pasta and asparagus together, reserving one cup of pasta water.

Meanwhile, combine olive oil, lemon peel, lemon juice, tarragon and cheese in a large bowl, breaking up the goat cheese as you put it in. Add hot pasta and asparagus to bowl, along with a couple splashes of the pasta water. Toss until smoothly combined, adding more pasta water if needed. Season genersously with salt and pepper. Throw in some fresh spinach at the end if you want a bit more veggie in this dish.

Photo below was taken with Droid phone on the way to the weekly potluck.