Every month, I get bored with my food styling props and I tell Lu. Luckily, there’s a Pier 1 Imports and Target right near my main grocery store, so usually I can fit in a quick stop.
But every couple of months, Lu knows he’s in for a real treat: a day of prop shopping.
That happened on Sunday. We’re talkin’ Target, Home Goods, Pier 1 Imports, even AC Moore. I never thought I’d get so excited about bowls and napkins.
I love how I’m acting like I’m a professional food photographer. I’m clearly not, but I have almost as much fun taking the photos of my food as I do cooking it.
Okay, not really. I love the cooking more. Then comes the photographing and lastly, the cleaning.
Sometimes, I honestly don’t know what recipe to make and I’ll lay out food props and “style” a dish (without the actual food) and that will inspire me.
That happened yesterday (Monday). The water in my building was shut off for maintenance, so from 9:30am – 2:30pm, I couldn’t really cook. What if I spilt something and needed to sponge clean with water? The horror!
Needless to say, when 2:30pm came, I was going stir crazy and I lost my creative edge. I hadn’t actually put away my purchases from over the weekend, so I started styling.
I ended up with this:
And then, of course, we arrived at this shaved asparagus and sausage sweet potato noodle pasta. Which was the most savory, delicious pasta I’ve made in a while.
The sweet potato noodles and the sausage are a match made in heaven. I’ve been meaning to try a shaved asparagus salad, but was weary. Raw asparagus? Thus, this recipe was me getting my feet wet.
Shaved asparagus = ground-breaking. Who knew! The consistency is perfect when it softens with the sweet potato noodles and sausage. Plus, the asparagus adds a nice aromatic to the sausage and potatoes.
All in all, I have to thank my building’s maintenance team for shutting off the water for 6 hours. Without them, this pasta would never have happened.
What do you think about shaved asparagus? Have you tried this yet?
Shaved Asparagus and Sausage Sweet Potato Noodle Pasta
Ingredients
- 1.5-2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 sweet Italian sausage links decased, crumbled
- 1 large 350g+ sweet potato, peeled, Blade C
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 large garlic clove minced
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup low-sodium beef broth
- 2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
- 6 asparagus stalks
- optional: grated parmigiano reggiano cheese to garnish
Instructions
- Place a large skillet over medium heat and add in the olive oil. Then, add in the sausage. Cook the sausage until browned, 5-7 minutes. Continue to crumble the sausage as it cooks. While the sausage is cooking, snap the bottoms off the asparagus and then shave with a vegetable peeler, starting from the bottom of the asparagus tips all the way down to the end of the stalk. When done shaving, chop off the tips and set aside. Set aside all shavings and tips.
- When the sausage is done, add in the sweet potato noodles, garlic, red pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and then add in the broth and parsley. Let cook, stirring occasionally, for 6-8 minutes or until sweet potato noodles are cooked through and soften. After 5 minutes into the noodles cooking, add in the shaved asparagus and asparagus tips. Toss to combine and let the noodles finish cooking.
- When pasta is done, plate into bowls and garnish with optional grated cheese. Enjoy!
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