Creamy Asparagus and Pancetta Penne

I used half whole wheat and half regular penne.  I also used more pancetta as the package held 4 oz and wanted to use it up.  Will make again.  A bit time consuming for a weeknight meal but not bad.

The liquid didn't thickenor absorb enough and I ended up pouring a lot of it out. It tasted okay, though, and was better after adding a squeeze of lemon juice.

This sounded so good...but it was bland. I made half the recipe and only used 4 ounces of pasta. I admit i didn't add as much salt as it called - it sounded like a lot but it surely was not creamy and i followed the recipe. Maybe a shallot or more onion would help but it needs something.

 This turned out great! I added green beans instead of the mushrooms and it was delicious. I also added grated some fresh parmesan cheese on top. I will definitely make this recipe again!

This was very good! Next time I will add more asparagus. It's definitely important to season throughout per the recipe. And I added ground black pepper and extra thyme. Even the kids loved it!

I made this last week and it was super easy and so delicious.  I will definitely be making this again.

Loved this recipe! Used a flavorful stock and I think it added flavor. Also added extra thyme and lemon to taste. Wonderful recipe!

Followed recipe to a T and it just didn't taste good. Wouldn't make again and wouldn't recommend

My (picky) husband and I loved this dish. The flavors came together so nicely! At first, I was worried that there was too much liquid, but by the end, it had all evaporated, thickened, and absorbed into a nice creamy and delicious sauce. I will absolutely make this again! I used Dreamfields pasta instead of regular whole wheat pasta, because my husband prefers the taste.

I have made hundreds of Cooking Light recipes over the years and never felt compelled to write a recipe review until now.  I had high hopes for this pasta-- asparagus, mushrooms, pancetta, in a creamy sauce-- what could be better?  

I am a reasonably talented home cook, and I followed instructions on this recipe precisely, and the results were *terrible*!  I am willing to account for some amount of user error possibly, or for the result simply not being to my personal tastes, but the flavor profile overall was just off.  In the time it takes to cook the mushrooms, the pancetta was beyond crispy into barely-shy-of-burned. The asparagus needs far longer to cook.  The pasta ended up undercooked as well (and with not enough liquid left, there was no way to cook it longer).  The beurre manie added in at the end does a great job of thickening the sauce, but there's not enough sauce in the first place for a beurre manie to work as it should in this type of recipe.  It left the sauce thickened but gritty (the flour needs room to "disperse", and with not quite enough liquid in the pot, in spite of appearing to have dissolved well, it seemed to have clung to the pasta, maybe?).  

Again, usually, Cooking Light hits it out of the ballpark, but this recipe was a total waste of time and ingredients.  And also, just because something is "one pot" does not mean that it's easy or fast or results in less dishes (a plate, a bowl, a drawer full of measuring cups, etc.).  Too many fidgety steps that would have been worth it had the result been amazing, but I spent 45+ minutes making something that I ended up barely able to choke down.  Even my Eats-It-All spouse kindly asked that we never make this recipe again!