Lemon spaghetti with asparagus

I've known about fiddleheads for a while. As a budding urban forager, I have even considered picking some of the unfurled fern fronds I've seen by the side of some pathways in the spring, but I wasn't sure if they were the kind you eat or not. SO when I saw some for sale at NOWBC, I thought, this is the week we try to eat fiddleheads.

I googled this recipe and cooked it up for us. It was good, if a bit too lemony. The fiddleheads were inoffensive, sort of like a blandish asparagus. The whole recipe was only OK but I thought if I used asparagus instead of fiddleheads, added in a little parmesan, and toned down the lemon a bit, it would be a great springtime recipe. So this is what I want to try next time:

Lemon Spaghetti with Asparagus

Ingredients (for 2 servings):

2 cups asparagus, trimmed into one or two inch chunks
2 large cloves of garlic - diced
1 tsp crushed red pepper 
2 tsp butter
2 tsp olive oil
fresh lemon juice from 1/2 large or 1 small lemon
4 oz pasta (I used spaghetti)
2 tbsp pasta water
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
zest of 1 lemon
salt

Method:

-- bring a pot of water to a boil on the stove for pasta. cook pasta according to directions.

-- in a medium saute pan over medium-high heat, melt butter and olive oil - add asparagus, garlic and crushed red pepper. saute for 3-5 minutes, testing taste and texture about halfway through cooking. at the half way point add fresh lemon juice.

-- add the cooked pasta to the saute pan with 2 tbsp pasta water, half the parmesan cheese, and half the lemon zest, tossing to coat pasta with the asparagus mixture

-- plate & sprinkle with a generous amount of good coarse salt, remainder of lemon zest and parmesan cheese.

enjoy!