Vegetable "Carbonara": My new comfort food

This week was hectic. The start of the school year left me dealing with a student who decided  that since it was my first time teaching an undergraduate level course, she could tell me how to do it. This did not go over well with me and I eventually told her while I appreciate her concern for the class, I know what I'm doing. Thank you very much.
Then while heading out for church, I noticed glass and a huge dent in the left rear bumper of our car. The individual drives a large red truck or SUV and doesn't leave notes, according to the very nice and prompt HPD officer who to our report.

 Needless to say it was a rough week.

The bright spot so far has been finding this wonderful recipe in the September 2012 issue of Cooking Light (pg 140) or can be found here. As usual, I changed things up a bit.

Motivation: looking for a new pasta recipe with lots of vegetables
Changes: The original recipe calls for regular pasta and pecorino Romano cheese. I chose to use whole wheat for added fiber and I use Parmesan cheese since that what I had in the fridge already. I didn't have any fresh basil so that got left out.  I also added mushrooms as the magazine suggested.
Next time: I will add fresh basil and sun-dried tomatoes.

The sauce turns out to be incredible creamy and comforting. I will be making this much more often.

Vegetable "Carbonara"

Adapted from Tomato and Asparagus "Carbonara" from Cooking Light Sept 2012  

3 quarts water

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound (1-inch) diagonally cut trimmed asparagus
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup slice mushrooms
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg
8 ounces uncooked whole wheat penne pasta

1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot

2. Chop all the veggies

3. Heat a LARGE skillet over medium-high heat. My stove runs hot so I used medium heat. Once the skillet it hot , add 1Tbs olive oil and swirl around to coat the skillet.

4. Add asparagus, cook 3minutes. then add garlic, cook for 1min. Make sure to stir a lot at this point so the garlic doesn't burn. Then add mushrooms and tomatoes. cook until tender about 7minutes

 5. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, cheese and salt and pepper. Mine turned out to be very thick.

6. Next, drain pasta and place in a large bowl. Then toss with sauce mixture. The sauce will melt from the heat of the pasta.

7. Then add vegetable mixture to pasta and toss to coat.

8. Enjoy!