Cottagers' Pasta

First, I would like to apologize to anyone who has been looking and looking here for new things - I have been busy, in part learning new kitchen ideas (not techniques, just ideas) and of course finding cookbooks I like by accident on a near-regular basis. I'll be back to those soon, but here is a pasta dish (of course) that I made up in honor of Fulham Football Club, who play at Craven Cottage, hence:

Cottagers' Pasta

This began when I found a bottle of chili and garlic pesto (base: tomatoes) by Jamie Oliver in Fulham - and nowhere else. I had some asparagus and broccoli and ricotta to use for a dish and figured out I could do this!

Fry up some pancetta (in smallish cubes if they aren't like that already, or lardons if you're using bacon) and cut your broccoli into florets & add once the pancetta is starting to add fat to the pan. (You could speed this up by adding olive oil, which is never a bad idea, really.) Snap your asparagus, throw away the tough end and cut the spear end so it looks like penne (you could use penne for this, or farfalle, as I did). Add them to the broccoli and cover with a lid so the veggies' own steam cooks them. Make pasta as usual and make sure your veggies cook without getting too well cooked.

Get a big bowl and put in the pesto (if you don't have this particular pesto, don't worry - sundried tomato pesto with a bit of raw chili & garlic in it will do fine). Once the pasta is done, turn it into the bowl and mix up well; then add pancetta and veggies and stir again. If the pesto is too hot, add some ricotta - it will bind the whole thing together. Serve immediately and enjoy!