Shrimp, Asparagus and Radish Pasta

There are a few dishes or ingredients that I like so much, it actually pains me a little to try a new recipe with them.  Take polenta, for instance.  I love polenta - a little honey and a little butter is all I need. I actually can't bring myself to add cheese to it and the one time that I topped polenta with a delicious vegetable tamale concoction, I scraped off the topping and ate the two separate.  To me, the sum was just not greater than the parts.

Asparagus is another ingredient that I don't very creative with.  Ever since I was little, it's been one of my top ten favorite foods.  I love roasted asparagus and since we've been getting it weekly in our CSA box, I've been roasting it weekly.  So finally, I forced myself to try something a little different.  I had seen a recipe for shaved asparagus pizza and while I wasn't making pizza that night, I thought that shaving asparagus sounded like an interesting trick. 

Also, my dad had told me how much he had liked a shrimp and radish pasta that was in one of the recent Everyday Food magazine issues.  We finally got radishes in our CSA box so I knew I had to try that recipe.  Only I decided to throw in some shaved asparagus.  And use less butter.  And add a little of that leftover white wine.  And top it off with a little lemon.  While I ended up deviating quite a bit from the original recipe, it was still a delicious pasta that seemed like a perfect spring dish.  And I didn't have to scrape off any toppings this time.

Shrimp, Asparagus and Radish Pasta

Loosely adapted from: Everyday Food magazine

Serves 4-6

• 3/4 pound linguine or other long pasta (I used white whole wheat pasta)
• 2 Tbsp butter, divided (plus more to taste)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 bunch radishes, including greens
• 1 pound asparagus, trimmed
• 1 pound frozen large shrimp (peeled and deveined), thawed
• 2-4 Tbsp white wine (I freeze my leftover white wine in ice cube trays for recipes like this!)
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice (plus more to taste)

1. To prepare: Shave asparagus with a vegetable peeler into long, thin strips. Thinly slice or chop garlic.  Thinly slice radishes.  For the radish greens, rinse well and then give a rough chop.
2. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions.  When there is only one more minute of cook time left for the pasta, drop the shaved asparagus into the boiling water and let the asparagus and pasta cook together for 1 minute.  Drain pasta and asparagus, saving 1/2 cup of pasta water if possible.
3. While pasta is cooking, in a large skillet, melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat. Add garlic and radishes and cook, stirring occasionally, until radishes are crisp-tender, 3 minutes. Add radish greens and cook until wilted. 
4. Add 1/2 tablespoon of butter and the shrimp to the pan.  Season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp is opaque throughout, 4 minutes. Deglaze with white wine (I used approximately 4 tablespoons for a stronger wine taste in the dish).  Add pasta, asparagus, and remaining tablespoon of butter to the skillet and toss to combine.
5. Remove from heat and add lemon juice.  Add more white wine, butter, lemon juice, pasta water and/or salt and pepper to taste.