Meatless Meal

Rainey and damp today; I can sure understand why people move to AZ. Jim and I ran a million errands today and for dinner I kept it simple. We have Linguine with Roasted Asparagus and Almond Pesto. This was after an afternoon struggling with my printer. Jim said, turn it off and reboot. It seemed to work. So much hassle.


Serves 4-6

¾# asparagus
2C grape tomatoes
1/4C EVOO
1/2C almonds
1/4C fresh basil leaves
2T Parmigianino- Reggiano
1# dried linguine
Ground pepper

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 425 degrees. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.

Arrange the asparagus in a single layer on one half of a large rimmed baking sheet. Arrange the tomatoes on the other half of the sheet. Drizzle both with 1T of the oil, season with 1/4t salt and toss to coat. Roast on the top rack for 20 minutes. Put the almonds on another rimmed sheet and roast on the bottom rack for 8 to 10 minutes. Mine finished in 7. Be careful they burn fast. Put the almonds, asparagus, but not the tips, basil, cheese, ½ t salt, and 3T oil in the food processer. Pulse until a course paste is formed. Mix the pesto and the pasta in a bowl. I needed about ¾ C of pasta water to make a sauce. Add the tomatoes and asparagus tips and toss again.  This is very good and very filling.

We had Concannon Chardonnay with the meal.