Creamy Lemon-Asparagus Pasta for One

Asparagus is a really good price right now, and I’m thrilled, because I love it. Paired with this tangy and creamy sauce and a bit pf pasta, it’s the basis for one of the best meals ever.

½ cup pasta (I like gluten-free, but just use your favorite)

1/3 bunch of asparagus

1 ½ TBLSP olive oil, divided

Sea salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

2-3 thin lemon slices, skin and all

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 to 1 ½ TBLSP corn starch (or all-purpose flour, if not gluten-free)

¾ cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)

2 teaspoons nutritional yeast

Juice of ½ lemon

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook the pasta. Drain it and set it aside.
2. Meanwhile, put asparagus on a baking sheet and toss with ½ TBLSP of the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Top with two or three thin slices of lemon.
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
4. When baked through, chop asparagus into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

1. While the asparagus is baking and the noodles boiling merrily, heat the remaining olive oil (1 TBLSP) in a small skillet and sauté the garlic in it (about 2 minutes). Be sure to move on to the next step before the garlic has actually browned or it will be bitter.
2. Add the cornstarch to the milk and stir it thoroughly. If there are lumps here, there will be lumps in your sauce, so keep going until it’s a smooth slurry.
3. Add the corn starch slurry to the garlic oil and whisk it in for about 30 seconds. Turn the heat down and continue whisking away until the sauce begins to thicken a bit. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, if you like, and keep whisking.
4. Once it’s thick, add the nutritional yeast. Whisk it in thoroughly or put the sauce in a blender or use an immersion blender.
5. Return to the skillet over medium heat and add in the lemon juice.
6. Add half of the asparagus to the sauce and stir to coat.
7. Place the pasta on your serving dish and top with the sauce and then the remaining asparagus pieces. Serve with a lemon wedge, if you like. Devour with the hunger of a thousand starving vultures.