Family Friday Dinner

Mario Batali came up with this recipe exclusively for GOOP.com, Gwenyth Paltrow's blog. I made it for dinner and it was fantastic! We had a baguette with butter and a nice Zin with it and homemade cheesecake for dessert. I have now lost a total of 11 pounds! I'm still in shock, really. It was so easy!!!

Soft Polenta with Asparagus, Prosciutto, Garlic and Spring Onions

Serves: 4

5 cups water
1 pound asparagus, jumbo
1 cup polenta, quick cooking
1 cup mascarpone cheese
4 tablespoons butter plus 2 tablespoons
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 slices prosciutto, cut into julienne
12 spring onions, cleaned and root ends removed
juice and zest of 1 lemon
Set up an ice bath.

Place 5 cups water in a 4-quart saucepan and bring to a boil.  Trim asparagus, drop into water and cook until tender, about one and a half minutes.  Remove and refresh in ice bath.  Return the same water to boil and, whisking constantly, pour polenta in a thin stream until all is incorporated.  Remove whisk and stir with wooden spoon until as thick and dense as cream of wheat and remove from heat.  Fold in mascarpone and let stand covered in a warm spot.

In a 12- to 14-inch sauté pan, heat 4 tablespoons butter until foaming over medium heat.   Add garlic, prosciutto and spring onions and sauté until onions are wilted.  Add asparagus, lemon juice and zest  and let sizzle.   Add remaining butter, shake pan to emulsify and season with salt.  Divide polenta among 4 bowls, top each with asparagus-spring onion mixture and serve immediately.

Tonight we played "Would you rather." We've been sitting outside for dinner every night as the weather has been so perfect. Hubs asked if we'd rather be an avocado or an apple. We all chose avocado. Do you think our obsession is genetic? Speaking of avocados, I so hope our avocado tree is fruitful this year. The one avocado it yielded last year was delish but it's going to take a looong time to pay off the $25 tree at that rate!
Bella asked if we'd rather be a gate or a horse, I thought that was a creative one...what would you choose? To sit back and watch the action like a fly on the wall or run fast and free?
Sorry for the lack of pictures. I'll need to get in the habit of bringing my camera along with me everywhere.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!