Baked Penne with Asparagus and smoked gouda

Ingredients:

salt

8 ounces dried ziti or penne

1 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

2 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 lb smoked gouda (we like it cheesy)

bunch basil chopped

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the ziti and cook for 5 minutes stirring often. In the meantime, trim bottoms off of asparagus and cut into 1 inch pieces. Bella is shown demonstrating how to trim the bottoms off asparagus.

Add the asparagus to the boiling water and continue to cook with the pasta about 2 minutes. Drain the pasta and asparagus and reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute about 20 seconds. Add the pasta, asparagus, salt and pepper, and the reserved cooking liquid. Toss and coat the pasta with the oil and garlic. Remove the skillet from heat. Add the gouda and basil and toss. Transfer to baking dish and cook in preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Here is what the finished product looks like below.

Bon Apetit!