Featured Recipes

March 5, 2009, 9:18 pm
updated Mar 5, 2009, 9:48 pm

Pasta with roasted asparagus

We used whole wheat spaghetti in this dish, to get more fiber and roasted the asparagus for added flavor (tip: roast more asparagus than necessary and use in a salad, frittata, or as a snack on its own). In place of pine nuts we used sunflower seeds because they don’t cost as much and their kinda fun.

Ingredients

• Asparagus, 1 bunch (240 grams)
• Extra virgin olive oil,1 TB + 1 tsp (10 grams)
• Salt, pinch
• Pepper freshly ground, pinch
• Sunflower seeds, raw, unsalted, 4 TB (34 grams)
• Scallions, 1 bunch (52 grams)
• Spaghetti, whole wheat, 8 ounces (226 grams)
• Lemon zest, 2 1/2 tsp
• Thyme, fresh, chopped, 1 tsp (5 mL)
• Parsley, fresh, chopped 1 TB (15 mL)
• Parmesan, grated -optional

Preparation

Toast raw sunflower seeds in a dry frying pan for about 3-5 minutes –keep an eye on them.

Remove tough ends of asparagus and cut remainder into 2”-3” lengths. Place on cookie sheet and toss with 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast the asparagus at 425˙ for 20-30 minutes.

Sauté scallions, parsley, and thyme in 1 TB extra virgin olive oil at medium heat for approximately 3-5 minutes.

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. When al denté, do not drain pasta from water and do not rinse. Instead, lift pasta out with tongs and place in the pan with the sautéed scallions and herbs (yes, some of the pasta water will drip on the stove and into the frying pan, that’s a good thing); combine.

Add roasted asparagus and lemon zest to pasta, scallions, and herbs. For a treat, grate parmesan on top of each serving.

Serves 4

This dish does not have to be eaten hot. Both times I had it, it was room temperature and dee-lish!

Previous | Next Journal Archive