Spring has sprung and you can see a bounty of these gorgeous seasonal asparagus everywhere. I have finally learned to use only seasonal vegetables for the maximum flavor & taste. Seasonal fruits & vegetables are also a lot better for us nutritionally and not to mention much easier on the wallet.
Asparagus is one of those vegetables that is best eaten in season otherwise it has a bland taste and an unpleasant stringy & woodsy texture. Asparagus is one of nature’s true food heroes as a source of protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron. Asparagus is also packed in the naturally occurring phytochemicals of glutathione, rutin, and folic acid. Asparagus, next to orange juice, is regarded as the second best whole foods source of folic acid
Shades of Green recipe idea was inspired by a sweet sweet friend Nadia Wasti, who happens to be an author/editor of a beautiful food blog called for the love of yum! Check out her blog for mouthwatering recipes! Her wonderful recipe Shades of Green Chopped Salad was one of the best recipes picked by the editors of Food 52 as a runner up in a contest. She has always been an inspiration to me and I have learned so much about food blogging from her. She has always been gracious in giving me advice, she’s a beautiful human being inside & out. Nadia was one of the first food bloggers I met when I started my blog back in February 2010. She made me feel welcomed in the blogging world and was always there to answer any of my newly blogger questions. I’m most thankful to her kindness and cherish her friendship.
Ever since I started my blog I have met so many talented & friendly bloggers who have been an ultimate inspiration to me and I truly love our blogging community!
I couldn’t resist buying the gorgeous asparagus in the markets right now and started planning how I was going to use it. The vibrant green color reminded me of Nadia’s recipe title, “Shades of Green”, that gave me the idea of using all green vegetables in this recipe. I also chose to add baby arugula and chopped roasted pistachios to this recipe just because they are one of my favorite ingredients. I knew I wanted to make a pasta dish with these fresh green ingredients, so I decided to make a homemade tagliatelle. I absolutely adore making homemade pasta, there’s something organic about it which gives me so much pleasure & joy!
Tagliatelle is an egg based pasta which only has four ingredients mainly consisting of eggs, flour, olive oil & salt. I find the eggs gives the pasta a richer flavor & texture and makes it easy to work with the dough. I love using my hand-crank pasta maker which I bought when I was in my 20′s and is still working great and cranking out gorgeous pasta.
For this pasta recipe I experimented with organic whole wheat flour but I quickly discovered that in order to make the dough elastic enough to roll out, it needed a higher gluten content than whole grain flours provide. So to add the gluten in the pasta I used organic unbleached all-purpose flour to the recipe. I also noticed that there were different sauces that work well with whole wheat egg pasta, these sauces tend to be more vegetable based. I would highly encourage you to make pasta at home, it is truly a gratifying experience, I even get my two boys and hubby to help out and they love it. Buon appetito!
Recipe for Homemade Tagliatelle
Serves 4 – 6
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups organic unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 cup organic whole wheat flour
3 eggs
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
extra all-purpose flour for dusting
{You can certainly substitute ready made store bought tagliatelle instead of homemade pasta}
Method:
- Add the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, eggs, extra virgin olive oil, and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times until the dough resembles crumbs.
- Turn out the dough onto a clean, dry, rice flour-dusted work surface.
- Gather the dough and knead it until comes together and a smooth, elastic dough is achieved.
- Cover the dough with a kitchen towel or saran wrap and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Cut the dough in 4 even pieces and place them through the pasta machine.
- Follow your particular pasta machine directions.
- You can cut the pasta in any shape that you desire. Remember to dust the pasta with flour lightly so it doesn’t stick and dust it off before boiling.
- Boil the pasta for 2-3 minutes in well salted water & drain. {I also add a little olive oil to my pasta water while boiling the pasta}
Recipe for the Asparagus, Arugala, and Pistachios
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
1 bunch of asparagus, cut up
2 cups of baby arugula
1/2 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped {extra for garnish}
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup Parmigiano cheese, grated
Method:
- Heat extra virgin olive oil in a large pan. Saute onions until translucent.
- Saute the crushed garlic for a minute or so.
- Add the asparagus and saute for 3 minutes.
- Add the baby arugula, saute for a minute
- Add pistachios, saute for a minute and turn off the heat
- Toss the Tagliatelle and the vegetables together.
- Serve & garnish with cheese and pistachios.
