Oh My! Pasta printemps!

Three posts in three days! My word!

Anyways, I made some AWESOME pasta that I wanted to tell The Internet about. I get really fussy about eating once it hits, oh, 75 degrees outside. My kitchen, in addition to being dysunctionally organized, is also unbearably poorly ventilated so I rarely cook after May or so. I took advantage of a storm-cooled evening to make one last delicious hot meal before summer rolls in and I start to subsist on fruit, fruit smoothies, raw veggies, cheese, and yogurt. (SIDE NOTE: one would think that summer would be an excellent time for weight loss. It is not. I am mystified by this. I think the answer is that I move much, much less plus I don't have the massive calorie loss from keeping myself warm in a drafty house that I am too stubborn to turn the heat on in all winter)

SO. Here is the springtime pasta recipe. I was inspired by seeing a few different recipes mixing goat cheese and asparagus, plus I've been wanting to try the cooking regular pasta like risotto thing for a while. I am a little unsure on the timing of when to add the asparagus-I added it before I added the pasta, and that was a mistake. Next time I will probably add it about halfway through cooking the pasta, which is what I wrote here.

Spring pasta
You will need:
3 small/2 medium shallots or 1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
About 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes (dried, not the ones packed in oil), sliced into thin strips
chopped rosemary (about 1 sprig)
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-2 inch pieces
1/2 pound dried gemelli or farfalle or some other shaped pasta
Red pepper flakes (a pinch! a little goes a long way here)
1-2 cups light white wine (I used a cheap riesling that had been in my fridge for...a while. better wine=better taste, but crappy wine still=pretty awesome taste)
~6 oz. Goat Cheese

1. Heat 2-3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add shallots or onions and cook for a few minutes, until soft and translucent. Add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes until soft. Add tomatoes and rosemary, and turn the heat down to med. Cook 3-5 minutes until everything is soft and mushy
2. Meanwhile, heat wine and an equal measure of water* in a small saucepan over medium heat. It doesn't need to boil, just get warm. And if it doesn't get warm, it's not the end of the world
3. Once wine mixture is warm, add about 1 cup of it to the skillet, and add a pinch of red pepper flakes if desired** and then add pasta. Return to a simmer, stirring frequently
4. When liquid is almost entirely absorbed, add another 1 cup of warmed wine mixture and continue stirring. Add asparagus pieces.
5. Continue replenishing cooking liquid 1/2-1 cup at a time and stirring frequently until pasta is tender. Turn off heat and let sit for a few minutes to absorb residual liquid
6. Add goat cheese, toss to mix, and enjoy!

* If you are fancy, you will use chicken or vegetable stock in this style of cooking pasta. HOWEVER, I did not have stock on hand (NOT FANCY), and I actually think it would have added too much richness to the dish.
** be sparing with the pepper-it's going to infuse into the cooking liquid and thus into the pasta and veggies, which means it will pack much more punch.