Pasta with Cannelini Beans and Asparagus Pesto – This is a wonderful meal during asparagus season
Pasta with pesto is an uncomplicated meal that can be ready to eat in
just a few minutes. This asparagus pesto is perfect for pasta and beans
during asparagus season.
Wash the asparagus, trim off the woody ends and peel the bottom third.
Use a vegetable peeler to shave two-thirds of the asparagus spears into
thin ribbons and set aside. Cut the remaining spears into short pieces
and cook them in a pan with 200 ml of boiling salted water for 1 minute.
Remove the asparagus with a slotted spoon (reserve the cooking water),
rinse in cold water in a sieve and drain well. Bring the asparagus
cooking water to the boil, add the asparagus ribbons and blanch them
for 20 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and rinse in cold water in
a sieve.
Rinse the beans in cold water in a sieve and allow to drain well. Wash
the herbs, shake dry and pluck the leaves. Peel and coarsely chop the
garlic. Coarsely chop the almonds. In a food processor, blend the herbs,
garlic, 2 tablespoons of almonds, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil and
asparagus pieces, but not too smoothly. Season the pesto with salt and
cayenne pepper.
Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente, then
allow to drain well in a colander. Mix the asparagus ribbons and beans
with the hot pasta in a pan. Stir in half the pesto and about 100 ml of
the asparagus cooking water and briefly heat everything together while
stirring.
Divide between plates, top with the remaining pesto and sprinkle with
the remaining almonds.
PREPARATION TIME 40 minutes
500 g asparagus spears
Salt
250 g cooked cannellini beans
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
½ bunch basil
2–3 cloves garlic
75 g almonds
1 tsp grated zest from an untreated
lemon
2–3 tsp lemon juice
150 ml high-quality olive oil
Cayenne pepper
400 g long pasta (such as linguine)
SERVES 4
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