Pesto pasta with asparagus and white beans

Vegan main dish Vegetarian
Total: 30 min. | Active: 30 min.
vegan, lactose-free

As soon as asparagus season begins, I love to incorporate these delicious veggies into any recipe. In my opinion, you can’t beat homemade pesto. For me, gently fried asparagus and a handful of white beans with pasta is the perfect bowl recipe. A squeeze of lemon adds a zingy freshness and a few toasted walnuts give the whole dish a slight nuttiness. A real summer hit!

Recipe by:
LAUREN - Food Photography Academy

Ingredients

for 4 person

Pesto
1 ½ bunch basil, roughly chopped
1  organic lemon ½ of the grated zest (set aside) and ½ of the juice
40 g pine nuts
1  garlic clove, coarsely chopped
¾ dl olive oil
50 g Nussmesan Classic
  salt and pepper to taste
Pasta
40 g walnut kernels
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tin white beans (approx. 400 g), rinsed, drained
150 g green asparagus, lower third peeled, cut into pieces approx. 4 cm long
2  garlic cloves, sliced
250 g pasta (e.g. Rigatoni)
  salted water, boiling

How it's done

Pesto

Puree the basil and lemon juice with all the other ingredients up to and including the Nussmesan, season. Set aside the pesto.

Pasta

Dry-roast the walnuts in a non-stick frying pan. Remove, finely chop and set aside. Heat the oil in the same pan. Add the beans and asparagus, fry for approx. 5 mins., stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and reserved lemon zest, cook briefly. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until just al dente. Set aside approx. 150 ml of the cooking water, drain the pasta. Add the pesto and pasta water to the vegetables, mix. Add the pasta, mix well, sprinkle with the reserved walnuts.

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