Another whistle-stop visit to Emmanuelle, Joe and Hebe's home in Herefordshire offered the perfect opportunity to cook one of my favourite summer vegetarian pasta dishes, all the more delicious for being served up in the garden of the Old Vicarage.
A quick-and-breezy veggie pasta dish perfect for long summer evenings, this one uses a pesto I was taught by a chef in Genoa. You can opt for the easy food processor version or, if you prefer, the version that uses old school pestle-and-mortar and other hand methods.
This version serves 4 to 5 diners depending on portions.
Shopping list
Green asparagus spears; approx. 500g (A delicious alternative to the asparagus is rapini if you can get your hands on the real thing)
Peas; fresh or frozen; approx. two cups
Baby leaf spinach, 200g, most for the pesto, some for the salad
Tortiglioni; fresh or dried, approx. 100g per diner. (Other "large bore" pastas such as paccheri also work well but it's also great with "ribbon" pastas such as tagliatelle)
Grana Padano or parmesan, grated to sprinkle on the pasta
for the pesto
Extra virgin olive oil
Mascarpone cheese, 250g (or ricotta as an alternative)
Garlic, four cloves crushed or very finely grated
Broad beans; fresh or frozen; approx. 1 cup
Walnuts, 150g
A clutch of spring onions, very finely chopped
Pecorino Romano cheese, 90g coarsely grated
Black pepper and salt to taste
for the salad
Romaine lettuce; one or more depending on size
Baby leaf spinach - see above
Avocado; one or two depending on size
Half a large cucumber
A generous handful of fresh radishes
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Cooking method
The pesto
You can prepare the pesto at the same time as the dish or you can prepare it up to two days before and store in the fridge. If you do, make sure you've allowed it to return to room temperature before using.
Similarly, you can prepare it using a food processor or by hand. I'm going to detail the hand method because, essentially, the food processor method involves chucking everything in in roughly the same order.
Steam about two thirds of the spinach and all the broad beans. Time it so they have some time to cool. They don't have to be fully cooled, but they should not be hot when you add them into the pesto
Break the walnuts using a pestle and mortar. You want to end up with pieces roughly half the size of a pea, not a fine powder
Place the walnuts in a large mixing bowl together with the finely chopped spring onions and finely crushed/grated garlic. Stir loosely
Bit-by-bit (about two tsbspns at a time) fold in the mascarpone
Mash the steamed broad beans and chop the steamed spinach very finely. Add to the pesto mixture, stirring in thoroughly
Add the roughly grated Pecorino Romano and stir in; add ground black pepper and salt to taste
Add a little extra virgin olive oil at any stage that the mixture becomes too "stiff" and needs a little lubrication
the salad
Wash the Romaine lettuce and remaining spinach leaves and allow to drain thoroughly
Meanwhile, finely slice the cucumber and radishes
Break the Romaine lettuce into a salad bowl using clean fingers; add the spinach and sliced radishes and cucumber
Just before serving, slice the avocado and add to the salad
Toss and dress the salad with a generous amount of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil at the table
the last stretch
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta for the indicated time. In the case of dried tortiglioni, this would usually be about 12 mins. Adjust your timing of the cooking of the asparagus and peas to coincide with the pasta being ready
Chop the asparagus into segments of about 3 to 4cm. Cook these and the peas using your preferred method. For me it's using a microwave steamer. But, if using a more traditional steamer or boiling method, you can add the peas to the same pot as the cooking asparagus at the appropriate moment, bearing in mind asparagus takes longer to cook than peas
Once cooked, drain the pasta and return to the hot empty pot. Add the drained asparagus and peas and stir gently using a wooden spoon
Stir in the pesto, ensuring that it coats the pasta evenly. Cover the pot to keep warm until serving
Take the whole lot out into the garden and enjoy a light but filling meal on a glorious summer's evening.
Pairings
By now you're learning that we defer to Karel on these matters. But until he comes through with the definitive wine tips, I recommend a good Italian white, perhaps going for a reasonable Pecorino as a nod to the featured cheese or a sun-drenched Sicilian catarrato to really revel in summer outdoor dining.
On the other hand, I can wholeheartedly recommend a classic negroni in the garden as the aperitivo to tease the palate in anticipation.
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