Asparagus, Goat Cheese, and Lemon Pasta

From Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 lb spiral-shaped pasta
1 lb slender asparagus spears, trimmed, cut into 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbs finely grated lemon peel
2 tsp chopped fresh tarragon plus some more for garnish (if you don't have or want to buy fresh tarragon, just add dried tarragon to taste)
1 5 to 5 1/2 ounce log of soft goat cheese (not the pre-crumbled stuff)
Fresh lemon juice to taste

Note: don't forget to reserve 1 cup of the pasta water after boiling; it is a step easily forgotten or skipped over.

Cook your pasta in a large pot of well-salted water until it is almost tender, or about 3 minutes shy of what the package suggests. Add asparagus and cook until firm-tender, about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain both pasta and asparagus together, reserving one cup of pasta water.

Meanwhile, combine olive oil, lemon peel, tarragon and cheese in a large bowl, breaking up goat cheese as you add it in. Add hot pasta and asparagus to bowl, along with a couple dashes of the reserved pasta water. Toss until smoothly combined, adding more pasta water as needed. Season generously with salt and pepper, and flavor with lemon juice to taste.