Tagliatelle with Asparagus, Tomatoes and Grana Padano Riserva

I’m celebrating Festa della Repubblica with Grana Padano and this beautiful plate of pasta.

Festa della Repubblica or ‘Italian National Day’ is celebrated on June 2 and marks the day Italy became a republic in 1946.

This fresh tagliatelle dish pays homage to the Italian ‘tricolore’ flag with its green (British asparagus), red (roasted tomatoes) and white ingredients (lashings of Grana Padano Riserva).

It’s an easy, delicious recipe that lets its ingredients sing. To me, there is nothing more Italian than fresh pasta and Grana Padano Riserva. Grana Padano is the world’s most consumed PDO cheese and originates from the Po Valley in Northern Italy. It was created invented by the Benedictine monks from Chiaravalle, Milan, to preserve excess milk and the production technique has remained largely unchanged for almost a thousand years.

Aged for over 20 months, Grana Padano Riserva brings a wonderful nuttiness to this dish. I love this recipe and I hope you give it a go while asparagus is still in season.

Recipe:

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 400g 00 pasta flour (plain flour is fine too)

• 4 whole eggs plus 2 egg yolks

• 400g mini plum tomatoes, sliced lengthways

• 2 bunches of British asparagus cut in half

• 100g Grana Padano Riserva

• Juice of 1 lemon

• Olive oil

• Knob of butter

• Salt

• Pepper

Method:

1. In a bowl, mix the flour, eggs, egg yolks and a pinch of salt. If preferred, you can also make your dough on a work surface by creating a well in a mound of flour, pouring the eggs into it and slowly incorporating them with a fork

2. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it’s smooth. Cover in a reusable plastic bag and rest in the fridge for 1 hour.

3. Pre-heat the oven to 170C fan. Arrange the tomatoes on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt & pepper and bake for 20 minutes until soft and starting to colour

4. Roll the pasta out using a rolling pin or a pasta machine. Cut the pasta into tagliatelle, approximately 6mm wide

5. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Drop in the tagliatelle

6. While the pasta cooks, heat a drizzle of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Fry the asparagus for 3 mins until they start to brown

7. Add a pinch of salt, lemon juice and butter

8. After five minutes, transfer the cooked pasta into the frying pan alongside a tablespoon of pasta water

9. Add the tomatoes to the frying pan and gently toss the tagliatelle to ensure all ingredients are coated

10. Plate up. Generously grate over the Grana Padano Riserva and serve.