Baked Pasta with Asparagus (Pasta al Forno con Asparagi)

  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 50 mins
  • Servings: 4

    • About This Recipe

    “I love fresh asparagus recipes.Got this one out of 100 Pasta Sauce Recipes.Serve with some crusty bread and a salad and you have a great dinner. It turns out great!”

    Ingredients

  • 14ouncespenne pasta( or other short pasta)
  • 2lbsasparagus
  • 4ouncesbutter( 1 stick)
  • chicken stock
  • salt and pepper
  • 10ouncesricotta cheese( or similar curd cheese)
  • 1tablespoonolive oil
  • 4ouncesfreshly-grated parmesan cheese
  • 3eggs

    • Directions

  • Wash Asparagus.
  • Remove any tough stalks and cut into short lengths.
  • You may want to split the length in half.
  • Melt about 3 tbs of butter in pan and cook the asparagus over a low heat for about 20 min.
  • Every so often, add a little chicken stock to keep it moist.
  • When the asparagus is done, season to taste.
  • While the asparagus is cooking, process the ricotta cheese with the oil.
  • Cook the pasta for half the time stated on the package.
  • Drain and immediately toss in the remaining butter and half the Parmesan.
  • Butter a deep oven dish.
  • Make a thin layer of pasta, then one of asparagus, then one of pasta again and then one of ricotta.
  • Repeat, finishing with the layer of pasta.
  • Beat together the eggs and the remaining cheese and pour over the top.
  • Sprinkle with black pepper.
  • Bake in a medium oven, 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

    • Reviews

  • “This dish is excellant!”

  • “I just made this using nonfat ricotta cheese and light butter.I also used Pam Olive oil spray instead of butter to “butter” the pan.It was delicious and, I’m sure, considerably lower in calories and fat. Very easy to make as well.”

  • “This is a very tasty dish but I did a couple of things wrong.The recipe says to use a deep oven dish – I used a 2 1/2″ dish and this made it a bit dry – I found that 20 minutes in the oven was not enough time to cook the eggs and brown the cheese. The asparagus only needs to be sauted for about 5 minutes (I like them crisp)It is easily enough for 8 persons if it is a side dish and not the main course.I am not awarding stars because I feel it was my errors that caused it to be dry and want to be fair in my rating a/o comments”

  • “This is a great easy recipe.”

  • “I expanded the recipe a little to feed a larger group and put sauteed chicken breast as the bottom layer. It could have used a tiny bit of chicken stock in the expanded recipe, but was an absolute success. Very well recived – thank you!”

  • “This was great!!!Probably the best recipe from this site. I will make it again soon.Try it !!!!”

  • “This dish is excellent. I have made it twice now and the second time I didn’t have any ricotta cheese, so I used cottage cheese which was also good.”

  • “EXCELLENT, MY HUSBAND AND TWIN DAUGHTER”S GET FRESH ASPARAGUS BY THE POUND”S IN THE EARLY SPRING BY JUST WALKING ALONG COUNRTY ROAD”S..IT”S OUT THERE AND WE LOVE IT. I AM ALWAY”S LOOKING FOR NEW WAY”S TO PREPARE IT.. THIS IS VERY GOOD. IF YOU LOVE ASPARAGUS, YOU”LL LOVE THIS RECIPE…..”

  • “very good and my kids loved it!!!”

  • “I enjoyed this. If you want a flavor punch dish, this is not for you. It had subtle, delicous flavor though. I omitted the butter and cooked the aspargus in chicken stock instead and I used light ricotta as well. Everytime I make a pasta dish that requires the pasta to be layered without a ‘real’ sauce (lasagna for example) – it always turns out dry. For this reason, I mixed everything together instead of layering. I added the eggs on the top and baked as directed. I will definitely be making this again, I thought it was wonderful! Update, I have to say, this is one my most made Zaar recipes, I am so glad I found it.When I buy asapargus, this is the first thing I think of! Thanks again!”

  • “This was good…I sauteed one shallot and one garlic clove in the butter, along with the asparagus.I also seasoned up the ricotta a bit more and added some of the chicken stock and pasta cooking water to it.We all enjoyed it and I will definitely make it again.Thanks for a new recipe!”

  • “This was really good. I changed it up a bit because of all the comments about the subtle flavor. Sauteed a small red onion and several garlic cloves in olive oil before cooking the asparagus in chicken stock only. Added dried basil to the ricotta cheese. Added 3/4 stick of butter to the Penne noodles after cooking. This was a rich dish, but very tasty. Mine wasn’t dry, but I am going to try it with a little red tomato sauce with the left overs.”

  • “We didn’t care for this but I think I know why – my Italian grandma always mixes her egg with the ricotta cheese in her dishes instead of just pouring it on top – we didn’t care for the egg taste. If I try this recipe again, I’d make that change.”

  • “Too much butter for me.I like ricotta cheese, but didn’t think it did anything for this dish.I won’t make this one again.”

  • “This was pretty good but I think it needed a little bit more flavor. I will make it again but maybe add some ingredients to give it a kick. Good overall.”

  • “I felt this was a little dry. For some reason my asparagus was tough. The flavor was good. I would consider making this again but possibly as a side dish.”

  • “We did like this, but I changed a bunch of things:I cooked up about 3/4 lb of chicken strips first, then added some chicken stock and the asparagus.Let that cook until the asparagus was tender.I added garlic powder, a little onion powder, black pepper and red pepper flakes to the ricotta/parm/egg mix.Next time will only use 2 eggs.Used only a little bit of butter and oil when sauteeing the chicken.My husband had 3rds.”

  • “I used creamed cottage cheese, a little less butter.I also wasn’t sure what a “deep oven dish” was, so I used a 9×13 casserole…it seemed fine but maybe dry.I cooked my asparagus for awhile, I knew my husband would like it softer.Thanks!”

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