Lemony Goat Cheese Pasta with Sautéed Asparagus

Item # 3 of eating down the pantry : Pasta. I haven't been eating much pasta at all in France - Im just so obsessed with quesadillas and quiche and soup. But now it's time to finish it up. I was blog browsing and I came across a lemony goat cheese with asparagus pasta dish. Unfortunately I don't remember where I found it - sorry!



I made this dish for my birthday and invited Therese and Paula to come over and share it with me. I had been craving some asparagus ever since the last dinner in Italy when the 4 of us went to the market in Florence and made a huge going away dinner together. Plus, it's in season right now and veggies and fruits are always best in season.

So I trekked up to the market the morning of my birthday and ordered a kilo of asparagus. I had no idea how big a kilo would be - but its manageable once you cut the stems down. Plus - I was pleased to find that the asparagus that is grown here locally is a bit different than what we have at home....see below.


Does this look like an asparagus to you?


Have you ever zested with a potato peeler? Takes forever!

Lemony Goat Cheese Pasta with Sauteed Asparagus
Serves 4

1 kilo (2 and a half pounds I think) fresh asparagus, trimmed
1 large log of goat cheese
1 large lemon, zested
several cups of pasta (I always eyeball it)
1/4 cup olive oil plus 2 tbsp
1 tbsp herbs de provence
salt and pepper

1. Put a pot of water on the stove and bring it to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. When you drain the pasta reserve about a cup of the pasta water.
2. While the pasta is cooking, heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet. Add the asparagus, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until the asparagus is tender but not mushy,5-7 minutes.
3. In the pot you used for the pasta (which has now been drained and is still in the colander) combine the goat cheese, olive oil, herbs de provence and lemon zest. Mix well until the cheese has melted. Little by little add the reserved pasta water until you get the desired consistency.
4. Add the pasta back to the pot and mix well. Then fold in the asparagus and serve.


It may not be the prettiest dish you ever prepare but it's quite satisfying.


These pretty little flowers came from Therese. May Day in France is actually a national holiday, like our Labor Day - which means everything is closed and if it were not that way I guarantee you there would be strikes - but it also means that people are selling Muguet des Bois or Lily of the Valley in English! I found a really great explanation of this tradition on Paris Postcard that I really recommend you check out. She explains it so well I don't even want to bother trying!

I had a pretty lovely birthday and I closed out the day with drinks at the Bibliotheque with friends.

Frairies des Petits Ventres a Limoges 2009

I had the great great pleasure last night in celebrating the Frairies des Petits Ventres with all the locals in downtown Limoges. It's an annual festival that is always celebrated the third friday in October. From what I have read this is a festival that has been going on since the Middle Ages! It takes place on the tiny street of rue de la Bucherie (Butchery street).

This is a picture of the street a few weeks back the first time I saw it.



And here it is on the night of the festival. It was wall to wall people with grills and tents and vendors table's lining the side.



This is a huge huge event in Limoges because literally the whole city was packed into this one tiny street. Its so well known in fact that I didn't see one poster or advertisement posted for it. I heard about it first from Yohan I think and then read about it later in a travel guide from the Office de Tourisme in Limoges. Had I not read about it though I could have very well stayed in my room reading a book and missed it without even knowing.



The basic gist of this festival? All the butchers on this street and all the patiseries get to show off their stuff. It's an all out carnivores dream really. Limoges and Haute Vienne are known for their meat products so this is a festival for them to celebrate meat I suppose you could say. And celebrate they do!


Oh gosh...spreadable meat.



Pang would have liked this thick bacon sammy on french bread.



French people love their tongue. None left!







But don't worry! There was plenty of things for little ol' Lacey to eat. Plenty of treats that is, and I wouldn't have it any other way! I waited in line for a good half hour to get a crepe, being pushed and prodded and swaying with the crowd. I elbowed my way up to a table and bought a little apple tart. I thought about getting french fries at this one table but opted for an apple pound cake looking thing instead (which I haven't tried yet). They sure like their apple desserts here - gee whiz! I love it but I could really go for some banana bread!



my crepe being made!



There was a performance of some traditional dancing that was pretty interesting. It was at this point when I cranked my ISO way up that I rediscovered the grainy picture feeling that I so loved when I was shooting film years and years ago.















All this time I spent there I was totally on my own - didn't go with anyone - yet I was still having a blast - still totally excited to be there - at a festival I could only kinda partake in - smooshed and pushed against a thousand different strangers.



These guys really had the right idea!



When I finally decided to leave I started walking towards the top of the street. I kid you not, this is no exaggeration, to go the length of half the street it literally took me almost half an hour. To the muddled sounds of "oh la" and "merde" I slowly, painfully and slowly worked my way up the street. It was impossible to move as an individual. You went with the crowd or you were trampled.

I could see the end - it was 50 feet ahead of me - and I bumped into Nadia, Yohan and Victoria. Nadia and Victoria are Argentinian girls that are teaching Spanish here. Yohan is Nadia's boyfriend, and he's a real life Frenchy. They had just gotten to the festival and were ready to plunge in so after almost half an hour of struggling to get out I turned right around and went back in!

I spent the rest of the night pushing around with them until we finally decided to get out of the crowd and go for a walk. We walked down to le Vienne - the river - and chatted and strolled. Yohan said his place was about 10 minutes away and invited us over for a drink. 30 minutes later we got there. He claims this is a French thing - habitually misrepresenting times and distances. As usual the walk was all uphill and about 15 minutes into it I was regretting not going home as it was already midnight.

Finally made it and plunked down on the couch, made friends with their adorable cat, and got something to drink and felt a bit better. We watched something that Yohan just raves about called Happy Three Friends. It's pretty much exactly like Itchy and Scratchy from The Simpsons. Little cute animals that do really gross stuff to kill each other. He laughed hysterically. Pretty great

I finally decided it was time to go home and at about 1:30 am I snapped this picture of the aftermath of the festival. Notice the obliging French man who is giving the peace sign.