Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Clean asparagus, snap off ends and cut into 1" pieces (I cut them on the bias). Clean tomatoes. Put the tomatoes and asparagus on a cookie sheet & toss with olive oil, salt & pepper. Into the oven they go for about 15 minutes (stirring once halfway thru) cook them just until the tomatoes begin to burst and the asparagus is still crisp & bright green.

Put a large pot on high on the stove to boil the pasta. When boiling cook the penne pasta to aldente, drain reserve about a cup of the pasta liquid.

Put the butter in a small sauce pan on medium low. Swirl it occasionally. It will take about 5 minutes and the solids will begin to rise to the top of the butter. Take a small spoon and skin them off the top. Continue to cook the butter over medium-to medium/low heat. It will become a brown color and the taste will be nutty and have much more flavor.

To assemble transfer the pasta back to your large cooking pot. Add the vegetables, brown butter, lemon zest, juice and cheese. Stir to combine. If it is too stiff - add ½ cup reserved pasta water and stir again. Add additional pasta water if needed.