[Mummy_Tummy]

I was digging around in my pasta cookbook the other day and made this recipe. Let's just say, it's absolutely one of the tastiest meals I have ever eaten. It was very filling and probably because of the yummy taste, it was also very satisfying. I just wonder how to reduce some of the cals because of the butter that's called for. For the record, I accidentally left out the brown sugar but it's such a small amount (1/2 tsp divided by 4 servings) that I think it would be alright to leave it in. It was still delicious without it.

1 pound asparagus
1 tbs olive oil
salt
fresh groundblack pepper
1/2 cup + 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 pound penne (I couldn't find wholewheat penne so I used ww conchiglie)
1/4 pound butter
13 cup grated Parmasan cheese + a bit more for serving (I didn't use any extra - I think it had plenty already)

1. Heat oven to 400. Snap the tough ends off the asparagus and then cut spears into roughly 1 inch pieces. Toss asparagus with oil and S&P. Place on a baing sheet and roast until tender, about 10 minutes. (next time, I'll make extra because the asparagus was so good that I ate a few bits when it came out of the oven!)

2. Meanwhile, place vinegar in a small saucepan and simmer until about 3 tbs remain. Turn off the heat and then stir in the butter and the sugar until melted.

3. Cook the pasta until done, drain and then in a large bowl, toss together the pasta, the vinegar mixture, asparagus and cheese. Serve immediately as it is best piping hot.

I'm just wondering about the butter. It works out to about an ounce of butter per serving. I'm not sure I think that' a negligible amount or not. I wondered about using half the amount of butter and making up the dif with olive oil. I don't want to compromise the taste of the dish so wondered if anyone had any sugstions?

I guess, if nothing else, this will become a once in awhile treat!

[LindaT]

What I find works is stuff like Butter Buds or Molly Mcbutter. I'd use some of that to get the buttery flavor and maybe a tiny bit of the pasta water to get some of the moisture.. or maybe a tablespoon of olive oil with the butter buds. As far as the Parmesan, I always use fresh grated instead of the stuff in the can because I've found I use a TON when it is in the can, but only a small bit when I grate it myself!

16 ounces of pasta for four servings is an awful lot of pasta.. usual serving is only 2 ounces. I'd also reduce the pasta in this dish, and maybe bulk it up with some more veggies. YMMV but this is what I'd do!

[BlueToBlue]

I don't think you'll save much in terms of calories by replacing the butter with olive oil since olive oil is also high in calories (although it is at least better for you).

I would reduce the amount of olive oil used to roast the asparagus to 1/2 tbsp or less.

To cut down on the butter I would add chicken broth to the vinegar when you are cooking it. Add enough to make up for the amount of butter you are leaving out, then don't reduce the broth/vinegar all the way down to 3 tbs.

You could try leaving out the butter altogether. I've made an excellent sauce for pasta with just sauted onions, fresh diced tomatoes (with juice) (you could use canned tomatoes instead), balsamic or red wine vinegar, worcestershire sauce, basil, oregano, salt (if using fresh tomatoes), and pepper. For four servings of pasta, I would use at least 28 oz of tomatoes (they will cook down quite a bit so you might even need more--I've always made this in single serving increments so I'm having a hard time guessing the amount of tomatoes you'll need). Saute the onions (as much as you want) with one spray of olive oil. Once the onions are soft, add the tomatoes to the saute pan. Then add as much vinegar, worcestshire sauce, basil, oregano, salt and pepper as you want and simmer until sauce-like consistency. If you are generous with the vinegar and worcestorshire sauce, it has a really nice tang to it, probably similar to your current recipe (although it won't have the butter flavor). It doesn't taste like traditional tomato sauce.

- Barbara