Feta is a crumbly tart salty Greek cheese that has become quite popular recently in Italy, and though most of it goes into salads it has many other uses as well. This pasta salad will be quite nice in the summer, either as a first course or as part of a picnic.

12 ounces bowties
1/4 pound feta, crumbled
2 ounces almonds, toasted and slivered
The juice of half a lemon
A small bunch of parsley, minced
1 heaping teaspoon paprika
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 pound asparagus or string beans
8 firm cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Toast the paprika for a couple of minutes over a low flame in a non-stick pan, until it begins to release its aromas. Turn it into a blender, together with the almonds, 3/4 of the feta, the juice of the half a lemon, the parsley, the garlic, and 1/4 cup olive oil. Blend until the mixture is uniformly creamy, and transfer it to a bowl large enough to hold the pasta.

Trim the tips of asparagus or beans and cut them on a slant; plunge them into lightly salted abundant boiling water and cook them for 5 minutes (asparagus may be steamed). Remove them with a slotted spoon, run them under cold water to keep them from cooking further, and draw a 1/2 cup of water from the pot. Slice the tomatoes.

Use the same water you boiled the string beans in to cook the pasta, adding more salt to it if necessary (it probably will be). When the pasta reaches the al dente stage, drain it into a colander and run it under cold water to cool it.

Dilute the sauce with some of the water from the asparagus or string beans, stir in the pasta and the remaining ingredients, and serve.

This will be a refreshing first course, and something off the grill, for example chicken, would be a nice sequel. The wine? A white, perhaps a Verdicchio.

Serves 4.