Wild Garlic Pesto Spaghetti
with Grilled Asparagus and Plumb
And so, lockdown continues…
I am starting to really enjoy this simple way of living, of course I am missing my friends and family and deeply saddened by the amount of people dying all over the world, but something seems to have switched in my head. I have taken pleasure in things I never thought I would and allowed myself to try new things.
I love cooking but I’m not a confident baker. I hate failure in the kitchen. I am easily disheartened and so bread making is something that I have always stayed clear from, especially Sourdough, but over the past couple of weeks I have become a Sourdough fanatic. I am also meant to be gluten-free, so that’s another reason I haven’t really experimented with Sourdough. But anyway, it has been a success! I’d urge anyone reading this to try something new during this time. It might fail, or you might even discover a new passion, who knows. I mean, what have you got to lose?
Apart from eating far too much bread, we have also been walking a little. My parents have two German Sheppards, one of which is the very over excited Buster. My parents have a little bit of land and so neither of the dogs get traditionally walked, they basically just chase each other all day until they collapse in the kitchen at the end of the day. During lockdown we thought we would take Buster out for the first time on a lead, it was an experience to say the least! He is definitely not lead trained but as soon as he was let loose, he was loving life. We have taken him a few times since and he loves it. It’s great for Tom and me as well, as we are staying at my parents with my brother and his girlfriend too, so it can get a little mental at times.
On our last walk we came across an abundance of wild garlic! One of my seasonal favourites. So, this is where the inspiration for this recipe came from. It is also asparagus season and so it would be rude not to involve them in this recipe.
Although we are in lock down, it doesn’t mean we cannot spend the time to prepare a meal for the family and share it together. I know we are lucky in many ways that there are 6 of us on lockdown together, and perhaps that is not the case for some of you reading this. But for many of us, routine has gone out of the window and the days are rolling into one and a Saturday is no different from any other day.
I know for us, we are in each other’s pockets all day every day, but we are not necessarily spending quality time together. If this is the same for you, why not take the time to prepare a meal to be shared. Lay the table, pick some flowers from the garden and mark the weekend. This is a perfect family friendly recipe, if you have little kids, you can even make an event of going foraging for wild garlic and have them help out in the kitchen. The veggies could even be grilled in the sunshine on a barbeque. Have fun with it!
Wild Garlic Pesto Spaghetti with Grilled Asparagus and Plumb
Serves 4
15 minutes
For the pesto
½ cup pumpkin seeds
Big bunch of wild garlic
2 lemons, zest and juice
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp nutritional yeast
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
Black pepper to taste
For the pasta
400g gluten free spaghetti
1 bunch of asparagus
3 plumbs (better to be unripe rather than over ripe)
To serve
Handful of cherry tomatoes
Watercress or baby spinach to serve
Wild garlic flowers
Preparation:
Add your pumpkin seeds to a dry frying pan and toasted gently. Be careful not to burn them by constantly wiggling your pan. Once you start to hear your seeds starting to pop, remove from the heat and allow them to cool down a little.
Add your pumpkin seeds to a high-speed food processor along with all remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Spoon pesto into a jar and keep it in the fridge for up to a week.
Fill a large pan with water and a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Now add your spaghetti and simmer until cooked but still firm (al dente).
Whilst your spaghetti is simmering, trim your asparagus and cut your plumbs into six slices.
Heat up a grill pan on a medium heat. Brush it with olive oil and place asparagus and plumb slices in the hot pan. Allow them to char for 5 minutes without disturbing them. Once charred, flip them to the other side and char for another 5 minutes. The exact time needed depends on the intensity of your heat and the thickness of your slices so keep an eye on your plumbs as they can start to get a bit soggy if over-done. Season with salt and set aside.
Once pasta is cooked, drain and stir in pesto and place into a serving dish
Top with grilled asparagus and plums, cherry tomato halves, wild garlic flowers and watercress.
