Yum.

Yesterday I made a grocery list - a grocery list filled with spring food.

Are you like that? Do you have spring food and summer food and winter and fall food?
Around here spring food has lots of color and smells great and is kind of light-tasting. It is probably cooked on the grill. It's not quite summer food (lots of fresh produce and not cooked at all). It is a big contrast to winter food that is heavy and cooks for a long time and probably goes in the oven.

Anyway. . . Saturday's spring meal was a great pasta dish with grilled chicken and some chilled Riesling.


Ziti with Asparagus, Smoked Mozzarella, and Prosciutto
(Compliments of Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis)

8 oz. dried ziti
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut in 1" pieces
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3 oz. smoked mozzarella, diced (about 1/2 C)
3 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into strips
3 Tbsp. thinly sliced fresh basil

Bring pot of salted water to a boil. Add the ziti and cook for five minutes, stirring often. Add the asparagus and cook until the pasta is tender but still firm to the bite, and the asparagus is crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Drain the pasta and the asparagus, reserving 1 C of the cooking liquid.

In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil over a medium flame. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add the pasta, asparagus, 1/2 tsp. each of salt and pepper, and the 1 cup of reserved cooking liquid, and toss to coat. Remove the skillet from the heat. Add the mozzarella, prosciutto, and basil and toss to combine. Season with more salt and pepper to taste.

Makes so much that you will be able to eat it for two nights.