Asparagus, lemon and parsley pasta

This should really be called 'Spring pasta', as it's so green. You were delighted at the thought that your wee would be too.

It's adapted from a Nigella Lawson recipe in Forever Summer - her pasta recipes are lovely, and very simple to make.

Makes enough for three (two big, one small). You'll need:

a small lemon, zested and juiced
a very good splosh of olive oil
a clove of garlic, finely chopped
asparagus - whatever you can get your hands on (and afford - although this recipe is great because it stretches it quite a long way!)
lots of black pepper
grated cheese (something like pecorino or parmesan would be good - we happened to have mature cheddar in the fridge)
a handful of flat leaf parsley, washed and chopped
pasta (six good handfuls)

First of all, chop up your asparagus - bend the spears near the base until they break (discard the very woody bottom bit, and keep to use in some soup), and then chop into inch-long pieces.

Bung your pasta in some boiling water. Ideally, you need to cook this in the base of a steamer, and then you can stick the asparagus on top (you can just use a colander and a lid over the top of a pan if not). Keep an eye on your pasta, and once it's about 5 minutes' away from being done, pop the asparagus in the steamer on top (it'll take about 3-4 minutes).

In the meantime, tip a good slosh of olive oil in a frying pan on a low heat, and fry the garlic for a couple of minutes. Add the lemon juice, and switch off the heat.

Once the asparagus is cooked, whip it off the top of the pasta. Drain the pasta once it's al dente (not too soggy in other words), and tip into the frying pan or a bowl with the olive oil/garlic/lemon juice mix. Chuck in the asparagus, lemon zest and parsley, and swish it all round together.

Tip into bowls to serve - it'll need a good grind of pepper on top, and a generous scattering of cheese.