Tuesday 18 July 2017

Asparagus noodles with homemade pesto



Summer is finally happening in the UK and I am loving it! I love eating with the seasons and that's pretty hard in the UK because not so much grows in the colder months. During this time of year however seasonal eating really comes into it's own and there's so much fresh food around. Asparagus, in particular has been in season and that really is one of my faves as it's usually so expensive but for a brief time each year it is a bit cheaper and more readily available and sometimes it's even possible to forage for your own if you're lucky!




Anyway I am a long time lover of zoodles as you may well know, remember this and this? I really do think that they're such a great alternative to pasta (even if you're not counting carbs or calories etc) not to mention actually being much quicker to make.


Despite how much I love them I have played around in my mind wondering if there's other vegetables that could be spiralized or at least used as a pasta alternative and this led me on to having a go with asparagus. now obviously asparagus is much to narrow to spiralize but this is a great alternative if you don't have a spiralizer or if you have an abundance of asparagus! It's super quick to make and because of the minimal cooking it's still quicker all in all than actual pasta.


I've served mine here with some homemade pesto, which I made so quickly using my Blendtec


Enough talking, I'll get on with how to make it, to make enough for two hungry people you will need:
  • A bunch of asparagus- pick the thickest pieces you can
  • A big handful of herbs- I used half basil and half mint
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • Small handful of pine nuts (preferably toasted)
  • 3 tablespoons of olive oil
  • Small handful of parmesan (optional, you can leave this out to make it vegan)
  • A few cherry tomatoes and some edible flowers to garnish (if desired)


To make it:
  • Start with the asparagus, take a vegetable peeler and carefully peel long strips off it lengthways, you will get to a point where you can't peel any more, that's fine just put those thicker pieces to the side 
  • Once you've peeled it all, finely chop the left over bits of asparagus
  • Next make the pesto; blend 2 tbsp of oil with the herbs, leftover asparagus, nuts and cheese  (if you're using it), if it's a bit dense or thicken just add a bit more oil or some lemon juice to loosen it. The Blendtec will do this super quickly!
  • Then take a frying pan and add a tablespoon of olive oil to it and tip the pesto in, heat a gentle heat for a few minutes until it's warm
  • Once warmed through, add the asparagus and remove from the heat, stir well until it's all coated and serve- I've topped mine with some extra pinenuts and some cherry tomatoes and veggie parmesan but these are optional. 
  • If you prefer you don't have to heat it at all, it's just as nice cold as a sort of pasta salad, in which case you'd just make the pesto the mix it in well with the asparagus and serve- it's easier to mix it this way by tipping it all onto your kitchen surface and using your hands as using a spoon will take ages and doesn't seem to mix it that well


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5 comments

  1. These photos are super stunning, this looks so summery and fresh. I would never ever had thought of making these.
    Thanks for this great post!
    Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow that looks incredible! So light and delicious. The hot weather has made me lost appetite for pretty much everything besides ice cream and fruit. This looks so good. I never would have thought to make asparagus noodles?! You're so creative!

    ~Andrea Tiffany~
    aglimpseofglam.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I could eat this right now! I tried these after reading this post the first time and loved them apart form they were very hard to peel worth it in the end though
    Emily XO

    ReplyDelete
  4. Goodness this is a clever and tasty idea, I a not sure how you thought of making these but they sound truly great!
    Ella

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anyway to eat more asparagus is a great thing to me, and these asparagus pastas look very good indeed!

    ReplyDelete

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