Light and Healthy Penne Pasta w/ Chicken & Asparagus

I worked at a very nice restaurant during my 20's in Perrysburg, OH.  It was called Peppercorns! The food was very good, the atmosphere was elegant and the menu was very diverse.  I took lots of good ideas for dishes with me when I left for my first "real" job! One of the most popular dishes for our women clientele was the Penne Pasta w/ Asparagus!  It was a very simple dish with a broth based sauce rather than a creamy sauce and lots of asparagus!  Since then I've altered and played with the same idea in different ways....adding and changing ingredients.  Today I did it again!  This dish includes 3 of my favorite ingredients:  Pasta, Chicken and Asparagus! 

Ingredients

2 Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters - skin removed, de-boned & shredded (get in there & get your hands dirty)
1 bundle of Asparagus - cleaned, tough ends removed, and cut into thirds
1 onion thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves minced
3 Tbls. Olive Oil
1 can chicken broth (low sodium recommended)
Reserved drippings from roasted chicken recipe (refrigerate overnight and remove settled fat from top)
1/2 box of penne pasta, boiled in salt water until Al Dente 
2-3 Tbls. of olive oil
salt and pepper season
3 Tbls. corn starch mixed w/ 2 tbls. of water to make a slurry

Prepare and set aside for garnish:
2 green onions finely chopped
1 roma tomato seeded and chopped
Parmesan cheese (Shredded or grated, whatever you prefer)

-Saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil over low heat.  Garlic can burn very easily so keep the heat low.Your goal is to soften the onions and garlic which will, in turn, infuse those flavors into the olive oil.
-Add Asparagus
-Season with salt and peeper (I prefer to use Miracle Blend along with fresh groud pepper)
-Add 1/2 can of chicken stock (if you like spicy food add a little sprinkle of crushed red pepper now)
-cover and simmer/steam for about 10-15 minutes (until the asparagus is tender) 

In separate pan boil the pasta in salt water. Once done, strain and set aside.
Using the same pan add:
-The leftover drippings from the roasted chicken (or substitute with an additional can of chicken broth)
-Remainder of the first can of chicken broth
-The broth left in the asparagus pan. (Keep asparagus aside for now)
-Shredded chicken
-Bring to boil
-While boiling stir in (stir fast) the corn starch slurry (make sure that there are no lumps in the mixture...fingers work best)
-Once the broth has thickened, turn heat off, add asparagus, and enough noodles so that they are all completely covered in the sauce. (I usually make too many noodles and save the extras for dishes later on.)

Serve in pasta bowl garnished with green onion, diced tomatoes and Parmesan cheese!!!! 

Enjoy!!!