Asparagus carbonara

Everybody from La Prova del Cuoco show (an Italian cooking program that I watch whenever I can) is making this at home now, they said, so I had to try it too.  Introduced by a fabulous redhead chef from Tuscany and a frequent guest on the show, Luisanna Messeri, a couple of days ago...

Asparagus carbonara
adapted from La Prova del Cuoco
time: 15 minutes

 ingredients 
300 g (2/3 lb) spaghetti
3 egg yolks
500 g (1 lb) green asparagus, preferably thin, hard ends broken off
50 g (2 oz) grated Parmesan 
20 g (less than 1 oz) Parmesan in chunks
3 Tablespoons olive oil
salt, pepper

 instructions 
In a large, serving bowl lightly whisk (with a  fork) egg yolks, mix in grated Parmesan, a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper.

Cook asparagus in a large pot of salted water for 5 minutes, drain (save the water). Cut the flowers off and set them aside. In a large cup, using a hand held immersion blender, blend asparagus stems with olive oil till smooth. Incorporate the puree with the eggs.

Cook pasta in asparagus water. Add cooked pasta to the egg/asparagus mix, together with about 1/4 cup cooking water (from pasta). Slowly cover spaghetti in the green sauce, top the dish with asparagus flowers and chunks of Parmesan. Serve right away. 

NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES

• the original recipe: 400 g vermicelli pasta, 4 egg yolks, 250 g wild asparagus, 100 g grated Pecorino, 150 g Pecorino in pieces, 250 g bacon, salt, pepper, olive oil;
• ... it's on their Facebook page but I might not find it again, so this is for a future reference;
• I do prefer Pecorino (sheep's hard aged cheese similar to Parmesan but a bit sharper) but it's hard to find here and expensive;
• I was planning on adding more grated Parmesan, but have you ever seen how much 50 g is... I mean a heaping mountain; so I stopped grating when I had enough;
• Signora Messeri said, in a carbonara, egg yolks are easier to work with than whole eggs;
• and you need one egg yolk per 100 g (3.5 oz) pasta.