5.23.2013

Baby Shells & Asparagus in Marinara

This week has been a busy one and has left me with little time to dedicate to the kitchen.  I found this recipe on Skinnytaste and knew it would be a quick meal to bring together.  The recipe can easily adapt into more servings if need be – just increase the amount of pasta you boil as well as the marinara sauce.  If you love asparagus as much as I do, I would even increase asparagus spears if you are making this for more than 4 servings.

Servings:  4
Size:  1 ¼ cups
Points Plus: 7 pp
Level of Difficulty:  Easy
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time:  15 minutes
Rating: 3 stars – Good

Ingredient List:
8 oz small pasta shells
1 bunch thin asparagus, tough ends removed
1 ½ cups marinara sauce
¼ cup Pecorino Romano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Bring about 4 inches of water to boil in a large pot.  Once your water is boiling, add asparagus and cook for about 3 minutes until the spears are just tender.  Drain the asparagus spears and chop into small, bite-sized pieces for the pasta dish.  Bring another large pot of water to boil, make sure to salt the pasta water.  Cook the pasta until al dente.  Meanwhile, heat up 1 ½ cups of marinara sauce in a small saucepan.  When your pasta is done cooking, reserve a ¼ cup of pasta water.  Return the pasta to the large pot, toss in the heated marinara sauce and asparagus pieces.  Use the reserved pasta water as needed to help loosen up the sauce.  Serve in pasta bowls and top with fresh salt and pepper and grated cheese.
Tip:
The original recipe calls for homemade marinara sauce.  I can only imagine how much better this would have tasted had I made my own sauce.  However, I was short on time and decided to just grab a jar of the store-bought kind instead.  I used Newman’s Own marinara which was quite good!  As leftovers, the pasta had absorbed a lot of the sauce so I would recommend you add some extra marinara to your leftover servings.
XOXO Megan

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