The PERFECT Spring Recipe! Pasta with Asparagus and Green Onion Pesto

by Emily Rems

These days, farmers’ markets are bursting with glorious greenery. And this easy recipe from Annie and Dan Shannon’s new cookbook, Mastering the Art of Vegan Cooking, delectably combines the best the season has to offer—namely, asparagus, baby spinach, green onions, and basil. Whip up a batch for dinner, or pack it for lunch, since it also tastes great at room temp.

Pasta with Asparagus and Green Onion Pesto

Pasta Ingredients:

1 (16-ounce) package small to medium shaped pasta

1 (14-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed, or 1½ cups cooked dry garbanzo beans

8 to 10 asparagus spears, cut diagonally into 2 to 3 pieces about 3 inches long

 

Pesto Ingredients:

1½ cups baby spinach leaves

2 to 3 green onions

¼ cup fresh basil leaves

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine

1 tablespoon soy sauce or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Pinch of celery seed

1 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons hulled pumpkin seeds

Instructions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and prepare the pasta following the instructions on the package. When the pasta shows the first signs of becoming tender, toss the asparagus and garbanzo beans in with the pasta to cook. Drain and return to the pot.

Make the pesto: In a food processor, combine the pesto ingredients, except the garlic and pumpkin seeds, and process into a thin sauce. Using a large spoon, mix the pesto, garlic, and pumpkin seeds into the pot with the warm pasta, beans, and asparagus.

Serve hot, with some of the white wine left in the bottle alongside.

Excerpted from the book MASTERING THE ART OF VEGAN COOKING by Annie and Dan Shannon. (c) 2015 by Annie and Dan Shannon. Reprinted by permission of Grand Central Life and Style. All rights reserved.

 

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