Spring signifies the onset of beautiful spring green produce in the market like asparagus, fresh peas, broccolini, artichokes, lemons! ALL GORGEOUS RIGHT?! My family loves grilled asparagus sauteed in some olive oil, with garlic, red pepper flakes, and drizzle of lemon juice on the top with lemon zest on the top. Simple preparation but oh so delicious!
I partnered with Sequoia Grove Wines from Napa Valley, to create a wine pairing with a springy dish! I decided to use all the beautiful spring produce to create a Spring Pasta with a Grilled Artichoke, Fresh Peas and Mint Pesto. I used farfalle for the pasta, and grilled asparagus, broccolini, shitake mushrooms in the pasta as well, along with pine nuts, lemon zest and lemon thyme! I finish off the pasta with some shaved pecorino romano, which adds an amazing saltiness to the pasta! I paired this beautiful dish with the Chardonnay from Sequoia Grove Wines, and it is so light, airy and goes perfect with this dish! This wine would pair wonderfully with a lovely spring salad as well.
There is an awesome Giveaway that will be live on my Instagram feed on Tuesday March 27th, going on till March 31st , so please do check it out and enter! You do not want to miss this!
For the pesto, I used canned grilled artichokes, fresh peas, and mint from my garden, along with parmesan cheese, lemon zest, olive oil and garlic. The pesto is really tasty and can be used in so many wonderful ways! The spring veggies like asparagus, broccolini, shitake mushrooms are sauteed in a pan with olive oil, shallots, and charred slightly. I top it off with some lemon zest. Simply add the veggies into the pasta tossed with the pesto, top it off with pine nuts and lemon thyme! My daughter loved the pasta so much, she took the leftovers for lunch to school for the next 3 days!
While we are talking about fresh produce, I want to tell you a little story, about an experience that I recently encountered. I got strawberries from Trader Joe’s two weeks ago, I had some with my breakfast the next morning and then they went at the back of the fridge and I forgot all about it. The only reason I got strawberries was because we were all craving them, since they are NOT in season. I was cleaning the fridge after two weeks, and I found these strawberries sitting at the back of the fridge and the strawberries were still red and looked good!!!! I was shocked!! How can strawberries stay fresh even after 2 weeks?! They should have perished and gone bad but instead they still looked fresh! They were probably GMO strawberries. The moral of the story is : 1.) Do not buy produce that is NOT in season. 2.) Go get some fresh produce from the local farmer’s market, support your local farmers and get the produce from farm to table.
Well, I hope you get to try this recipe, and if you do, please do not forget to tag #thejamlab on Instagram and/or leave a comment on my blog post below!
Enjoy the beauty of Spring around you :).
Much love,
XO
Amisha
Ingredients
- 1 cup grilled artichokes in a bottle
- 1 cup fresh peas
- ½ cup fresh mint
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 ½ cup olive oil
- Pasta:
- 1 lb. any kind of pasta you prefer
- 15 asparagus stocks, with the bottom chopped off.
- About 10 broccolinis
- About 10 shitake mushrooms chopped in half or left whole
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon thyme
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ¾ tsp salt
- Garnish:
- Shaved Pecorino Romano cheese
- ¾ cup of freshly toasted pine nuts
- 2 tbsp lemon thyme leaves
Instructions
- In a small pot of boiling water, on medium heat, add the fresh peas and let it cook for 2 minutes to soften. After 2 minutes, remove it off the stove, drain out the water, and wash the peas with cold water in a strainer.
- In a food processor, add the grilled artichokes, the cooked fresh peas, mint, garlic cloves, salt and pepper and process till smooth. Add in the pine nuts, parmesan cheese and process again till smooth. Add in the 1 cup of olive oil slowly while processor is running until it is blended. Remove it in a container, and add the remaining olive oil and gently mix.
- In a pot of boiling water with salt, on medium to high heat, cook the pasta as per the direction on the pasta package.
- Drain the pasta, once cooked, and put it in a large bowl. Immediately add in the pesto, and mix well. Let it sit and soak up all the flavors.
- Cut each asparagus into 3 pieces. Cut the broccolini into 2 or 3 pieces. Now in a large saucepan, on medium heat, add in the olive oil. Add in the shallots and saute for a minute. Add in the asparagus, broccolini, mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes. Add in the salt, pepper and lemon thyme, and let it brown on medium to high heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring to get the charred marks on the vegetables. Switch off the gas. Add the veggies to the pasta, and mix. Garnish with the shaved pecorino romano, pine nuts, and some lemon thyme.
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