Asparagus Pesto Pasta Salad
I hope you enjoy this update of an old favorite, first posted in June of 2006. I've improved the recipe and added nutritional information and new photos.
I had to make a dish to take to a potluck yesterday, and when I went to the pantry to assemble the ingredients for the pasta salad I'd planned to make, I found I was out of two essential ingredients. And I seemed to be missing an ingredient or two of every other "tried and true" recipe I could think of. I didn't really want to experiment on a new recipe when I would be serving the results to other people, but then I figured, what the heck: I didn't know most of the people who would be eating it anyway, and if it turned out terrible, I could put on a innocent expression and deny responsibility!
Fortunately, I didn't have to resort to such subterfuge. The asparagus pesto I decided to make was a hit, and I didn't have to sneak my serving bowl out under my shirt when the dinner was over. In fact, several people who saw me claim the (empty!) bowl walked up to ask me how I'd made the sauce.
I don't think I would have ever thought of making pesto with cooked asparagus if I hadn't happened across this recipe. I would normally make pesto with a little silken tofu (instead of olive oil), but that was one of the many ingredients missing from my pantry. So when I saw the recipe for asparagus pesto sauce, I knew I had to try it. And I'm glad I did: Between the asparagus and the lemon juice, this turned out much more tangy than regular pesto. It's definitely a keeper!
Asparagus Pesto Pasta Salad
(printer-friendly version)
This is one of those dishes that improve overnight as the sauce has time to develop its flavor.
2 pounds asparagus
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts (lightly toasted)
1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
OPTIONAL: 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound whole wheat or gluten-free spiral pasta
2 medium ripe tomatoes, diced (optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add the asparagus spears. Cook until just tender, about 4 minutes. Without emptying the water from the pot, lift out the asparagus spears and place them in a colander. Rinse with cool water.
Bring the water back to a boil. Add salt, if needed, and add pasta. Cook until the pasta is al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water, and drain and rinse the pasta with cool water. Put into a serving bowl.
Place the asparagus on a cutting board. Trim off the top 3 inches of the asparagus spears, and put the tips into the bowl with the pasta. Cut the bottoms into several pieces, and set aside to use in the pesto sauce.
Use a food processor to make the pesto: With the processor running, drop in the garlic cloves and allow them to chop. Add 2 tablespoons of the pine nuts, and pulse to chop. Add the lemon juice, basil, salt, nutritional yeast, and the asparagus pieces (not the tips!) along with 3-6 tablespoons of the reserved pasta water and optional olive oil. (Start with 3 tbsp. water and add more as needed.) Puree until smooth.
Toss the pasta, asparagus tips, and tomatoes (if using) with the pesto, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with the remaining pine nuts. Serve at room temperature or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes: Since I was making it ahead of time, I added the optional olive oil to keep the pasta from sticking together, but I don't think it improved the taste, so don't feel like you need to use it.
Servings: 8
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/8 of a recipe (7.7 ounces) without olive oil.
Percent daily values are based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Though MyPoints are calculated using a formula similar to Weight Watchers Points TM, this site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers and does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.
Other Recipes You May Enjoy:
Labels: Pasta, Gluten-Free*
Labels: gluten-free, pasta
posted by SusanV at 11:30 AM
46 Comments:
Delicious ... my favorite eating spot in Dallas did a salad like this, using a pasta with lots of nooks and crannies ... must try this!!
Susan this looks great! I know that feeling of I'll never see these people again so what does it matter - but I fear being the owner of something no one touches! I can see why this was a success - it looks and sounds wonderful!
looks amazing. i love how you kept the spears whole. i want to cook this.
Love the deep green color - I can imagine how tasty this must have been!
This looks outstanding and since recently discovering the joys of asparagus I am eager to try it in new recipes. I have a question regarding the Artichoke Roasted Red Pepper dip you made a while ago - I really wanted to make i and so I decided to get the ingredients yesterday. I have never bought red peppers in any way other than raw so I spent some considerable time studying jars trying to find one that were not oil packed and didn't cost a fortune. Eventually I got a big jar that was on special but when I got home I realised that it doesn't say Roasted Red Peppers, it says Marinated Red Peppers. Do you think they would work? (The ingredients of the marinade are just water, vinegar, salt and 'spices').
I bet I would def. like this dish!
On a side note...I am in despereate need of pine nuts. I can't find them anywhere! Our stores around here suck most of the time.
Sheesh!
Yet another item I will have to ask my herb and spicy lady for.
:)
Thanks for posting.
Harmonia: I was fortunate enough to find pine nuts in our grocery store's bulk section so I grabbed about 1 cup worth. I should have paid attention to the price because it ended up being $8!! Yikes. I will definitely have to try this recipe now that I have pine nuts around that are worth their weight in gold! :)
I've been really happy lately to find pine nuts in the supermarket for much less than they used to cost. I can get a whole bag of them for around $3 now. In the produce section, there's this shelf with different nuts, seasonings, and gourmet type items, but the pine nuts are a bargain!
In France people usually eat asparagus boiled in water and diped in a double cream. Your vegan recipe is so more delicious !
this is an old post so i'm not sure if you'll read this comment, but.. susan, do you think if i make this tonight (thursday), it'll be okay to serve at the beach on saturday, or should i make it that morning?
Tamara, I think it will be fine, though for the freshest taste, I'd personally wait until closer to serving.
I made this tonight and it was fantastic. I had never had pesto before (I'm allergic to milk, and most pesto is made with parmesan cheese) and I couldn't believe how tasty it was! I tossed in a can of chickpeas for some protien, and it was excellent.
Susan, my bf adn I have made several recipes from your site adn have yet to be disappointed. This was good for dinner last tonight, but today for lunch it was divine. The flavors really developed over night and it was superior cold. My bf's one complaint, not enough asparagus. I promised that next time I would use another bunch and put all of it in. There was plenty of pest to go around.
I am eating this right now, with some browned lite tofu thrown in. Very good!
this looks sooo delicious.
i've been looking for something like this to make for my boyfriend and i - aparagus, what a no brainer!
i think i am going to roast the asparagus first like the veggie salad at whole foods.
also, alanna - what spot in dallas? thats where i live!
thank you for this recipe!
Hi! I make a similar recipe, however I use spinach instead of asparagas in my pesto and add peas at the end. I will definitely try this recipe!! It sounds delicious and I'm always looking for a new twist to an old favorite
I realize I'm about a year late trying this recipe but I made it last night (served hot, with some grape tomatoes thrown in) and it was dynamite! I was shocked that a pesto with no oil could taste so incredible. Plus, preparation was so easy that I will be making it often. THANK YOU!
YUM!!!
That's from me and my husband. Just tried this for the first time tonight. By the way, it is possible to make the sauce in a blender but it did take some cajoling. :-)
I'm going to add some grape tomatoes to it. This is a great summer salad and the sauce turns out surprisingly creamy.
Just found your blog the other day off the McDougall site. We'll be back for more! Thanks!
Christine
I hesitantly made this for my asparagus-loving fiancee, because asparagus is not my favorite. But, we both LOVED it! It's going in my favorite recipes for sure. Yum!
I added some cashews and going to take it to a picnic tomorrow. It looks delish! ;o)
No wonder everybody at the potluck wanted your recipe!
I halved the recipe, added a few dashes of garlic salt, and did not need the pasta water, but it was still delicious!
I was worried it would have a strong asparagus undertone and not enough moisture due to small amount of pine nuts, but it was perfect!
Thanks Susan :)
-Lexi
Great recipe! I added Nutritional yeast to my pesto. Nice fresh taste for a light summer lunch.
Sooo good! I didn't need the extra water. The asparagus pieces retained enough water to make the pesto smooth, and I would maybe recommend running cool water over the asparagus after cooking so they stop cooking
I have made this recipe from your site many times and I am looking forward to trying this updated version!
wow this does look super tasty - i am glad that you posted this recipe! i attempted to make basil pesto using fresh basil from my friends garden and wow is it strong. good though : )
Michal
This recipe sounds great...I can already taste the flavours in my mouth! I will definitely give it a try...thank you for sharing with us!
I actually just made the 'old' recipe last week, and my two little boys actually gobbled it up - I used walnuts in place of pine nuts (b/c I didn't have any). It was tasty! Thanks for all your recipes!
Just a note to people who made the "old" recipe: The only real changes in this one are the addition of nutritional yeast and the option of adding tomatoes. I also added an instruction to rinse the asparagus with cold water to stop the cooking. Other than that, the recipe's the same (in case you want to keep making it the way you always have). I like the nutritional yeast, though, because I think it deepens the flavor without being really noticeable. Enjoy!
I made this for dinner last night and it was awesome! Will be great for my lunch today as well. I've left some in the fridge and I hope the kids will dig in....didn't tell them about the asparagus. I'm hoping they don't notice LOL. Sneaky way to get those veggies in.....
This is such a colorful and inviting salad, loved it !
This is absolutely delicious! I look forward to serving it to my celiac friend tonight. It's nice to have a pesto without all the oil! Thanks!
Do you take your own photos of the dishes? Looks delicious.
Gotta try the recipe, it's a bit different than I usually do for pesto pasta.
Susan, at last I am de-lurking, after being a huge fan of yours for probably two years now!
I just made the older version of this salad the other day for some friends, and we were saying how it would look so pretty with some tomatoes in or around it, so it was a pleasure to see the new photo! Also, there was no asparagus at my local supermarket that day, so I tried it using green beans instead. I found the flavor and color of the sauce to be about the same as when I had made it using asparagus. I was glad for that, as fresh asparagus can be pretty pricey here in Japan.
Love your recipes---several have become staples in my vegan kitchen (been vegan for 33 years now, but there is always something new to learn!). Thank you so much for generously sharing so much with us!
Thanks for another great recipe Susan. I made this today and it's fantastic!
YUM!!
I like to replace the lemon and salt with umeboshi vinegar. It is a flavor that I just love.
P.S. I am addicted to you artichoke tapenade. It's a favorite of my 12 yr old son too.
yum i like it and i will try it :)
thanx :)
I'm new to your blog and made this for the first time tonight and yum! It's very fresh tasting and easy to make. Looking forward to serving it to friends in a few hours. Thanks!
PS. I used slivered almonds instead of pine nuts, I have always found them a good substitute. I also added the tomatoes.
Gosh you're a wonderful cook and photographer. Like many here, I've tried several of your recipes and enjoyed them all. On one memorable occasion I ate half of a whole upside down peach cake after a long bike ride!
I tried this last night, but with a couple of teaspoons of 'normal' pesto, as I'm not yet a vegan, and a ton of extra garlic. It was wonderful! Thanks so much for this great and inspiring blog. Such joy!
This recipe sounds so good. I have always loved pesto and asparagus but never thought to put them together! A perfect choice for a nice outdoor vegetarian/vegan BBQ! Thanks for sharing this and can't wait to taste it.
Christine
hi beautiful pictures!
um where do i go to follow you? im new to this:)
Hi Dirtyduck,
If you're on Facebook, you can follow me at http://www.facebook.com/FatFreeVegan (you'll get a notice on your wall that the blog has a new post) or you can subscribe by email or in your feed reader (see the right sidebar for both options). In my opinion, the email option is the best because you get notified of new posts right in your inbox.
Thanks for asking!
Love the recipe. Thanks for sharing this.
Take care,
Bill
This makes a great take-away lunch.
Thank you once again!
p.s.: my omnivorous dad is crazy about your blueberry-oat bars. He keeps asking me to make some more :D
I LOVE ASPARAGUS!!!
I have never really thought of putting it into a pasta. This sounds delicious and I cant wait to make this. Thanks so much for your creative ideas. I will link to this post.
Thanks Again,
Rachael
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home