Today, I started the first day of my last quarter of undergraduate work. I wouldn't call it anything significant. I did have a lovely dinner tonight in Downtown Long Beach with great company, though. Now, I am back in my hotel room excited to be writing a new post for you guys. And, in the back of my head, I'm now counting down the 10 weeks until I graduate in June! Whoo-hoo!
Southern California has had a bit of rain the past couple of weeks. It's spring now. Rain, spring, flowers blooming, hot So Cal days... I love it! We're supposed to hit 80 degrees on Thursday, yay!
Spring makes me think of freshness, life, growth, and green. Last week, I made an incredibly awesome pesto that just screams S-P-R-I-N-G! It's asparagus pesto. You know me and my one pot dishes. Well, everything here gets thrown into the food processor and bam, you're done. The distinct asparagus flavor with the raw garlic, toasted walnuts, and acidic and tangy lemon juice? Mmm mmm mmm, thank you very much :-)
You have to make this! It's simple, delicious, and versatile... something you might notice as a pattern now after reading my posts! This is a great way to get vegetables into those that aren't too keen on them. It will go lovely in a cold pasta salad, a hot pasta dish, on top of fish in an aluminum foil package, as a dip for pita chips, crackers, vegetables... the possibilities are endless!
Asparagus Pesto
Ingredients:
- 1 bunch of asparagus cut into chunks, washed and ends trimmed
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- small handful of parsley
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1. In the food processor add the garlic, walnuts, salt and pepper, and parsley. Pulse it a little to get the nuts chopped up. Then, add the asparagus and lemon juice. Pulse a few times. Then, slowly add the olive oil in as you chop it up on a low speed. The final consistency should be relatively chunky--the nuts and the asparagus.
AND, YOU ARE DONE!
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| I told you it was simple. After pulsing this a few times, add the asparagus, lemon juice, and oil and you're done! |
Beautiful! And yes! Spring! Spring! I am so ready! This pesto SCREAMS spring - great job!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds lovely! I'm all about the asparagus at the moment, so I will have to try this one for definite!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great recipe!!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea, Hester! I love asparagus! And I kind of miss the days when it wasn't available from around the world year-round. It was always such a special sign of spring to get fresh, local asparagus. This winter I decided to wait until the Washington asparagus is available...I'll bookmark this for then. :)
ReplyDeleteSo fresh and bright. I love this. Just bought a bunch of asparagus. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI've never had much luck with asparagus, but that's probably because I've never had it in pesto form :) Perfect for spring!
ReplyDeleteI've never tried making pesto with asparagus. This looks delicious! Will definitely have to try!
ReplyDeletegarlic, walnuts, asparagus!! YUM! Awesome recipe, Hester... I have never had asparagus pesto... time to try it. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYou make the most creative pestos. this looks just as good as some of the others you've made. Where do you get your ideas??? :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I love this pesto version...it sounds so fresh and bright. Walnuts in pesto in one of my faves. Need to keep this one in mind!
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