Dandelion Pesto Pasta with Pan-Grilled Artichoke Hearts and Asparagus

Spring is here! With it comes beautiful vegetables such as asparagus and artichokes that we can add to our late winter seasonal bounty. I’ve been eating a ton of asparagus lately because it’s been so abundant at the markets and I just can't resist a price like $1.99/lb.  I usually eat it sautéed in my cast iron pan with oil, lemon, herbs and toasted nuts, but this time I decided to add it to a beautifully green pasta to give it a nice crunch and flavor. 

Instead of basil or parsley for a pesto base, I used some lovely dandelion greens.  If you don’t like the distinct bitterness of dandelion greens, you can substitute it with another green or seasonal herb.  

I originally planned on using penne or another smaller firm noodle, but when I got home, I realized I didn’t have any.  ERR!  I reasoned with myself and decided not to go back to town to pick some up so I just used half box of linguini that I already had in the pantry. Anyway, it ended up turning out quite good and very green!

Dandelion Pesto Pasta with Pan-Grilled Asparagus and Artichoke Hearts

4 large servings

Vegetarian 

8 oz. of pasta such as linguini or penne

4 medium artichokes

1 bunch asparagus

2 Tbs. pine nuts

Pesto (below)

Marinade (below)

Pesto:

1 bunch dandelion greens

¼ toasted pine nuts

¼ c. parmesan

3 Tbs. olive oil

3 cloves of garlic

juice of ½ lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

Marinade:

3 Tbs. Olive oil

Juice of ½ lemon

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbs. fresh sage, finely chopped

1 Tbs. fresh oregano, finely chopped

Salt and Pepper

First, put enough water in the bottom of a steamer to cook artichokes for 45 minutes, about 2 inches, and bring to a boil.  Cut the tops off of your artichokes.  Then, cut off the stem and mark it with and X.  This will allow the artichokes to cook more quickly.  Place the artichokes (with stems) in the steamer with 3 cloves of garlic.

                                     

While the artichokes are steaming, start the pesto by toasting the pine nuts.  Heat a saute pan and add the pine nuts when the pan is sufficiently heated.  To prevent burning and ensuring that the pine nuts are evenly toasted, agitate the nuts by shaking in a circular motion or tossing.  When the pine release their aromas and start to brown, remove from pan and set aside.

Cut the bottoms off the dandelion greens and wash the tops.   Place the tops of the  greens in a food processor with the oil and lemon juice and pulse a few times.

         

After about 15 minutes of steaming, remove the garlic from the steamer, pop it out of the peel, and add to the food processor.  Also add the some of the pine nuts and parmesan and pulse until desired consistency. 

To make marinade, whisk together all ingredients.  Place asparagus on a rimmed sheet.  Pour ¾ of the marinade over the asparagus and toss to coat.

 

At this time, start cooking pasta by boiling a pot of water, then adding your pasta and salt.  

Heat a stove-top grill pan until hot then add the asparagus.  

While the asparagus is browning, test the artichokes to see if they’re finished by removing a few leaves at different parts of the vegetable.  If the leaves come out easily and the flesh can be easily eaten, then they’re done.   Remove them from the pot and carefully remove the leaves until you can see the heart.  After scooping out the flesh, cut the heart into bite size pieces.  Taste the stems to see if they're bitter.  If they have a nice flavor, you can use those too. Place them in the marinade dish and pour remaining marinade onto them. 

After the asparagus has achieved grill marks and has browned, remove and add artichoke hearts.  Meanwhile, remove pasta from stove (when finished cooking) and strain.  Mix about ¾ cup of pesto into the pasta and toss with pan-grilled asparagus and artichoke, some toasted pin nuts, and parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

New Recipe!

A few weeks ago, I got my first spring-form pan for Christmas.   Eager to see how it works, I concocted this recipe.  I was initially inspired by a Sweet Potato, Chard, and Tallegio Torte recipe from my favorite magazine, Vegetarian Times.  The sweet potato is both the crust and topping for this torte, so it is very hearty and filling. It features some "southwest" flavors including roasted red peppers, smoky chipotle peppers, and salty cotija cheese.  You can always substitute ingredients, change measured amounts, etc. That goes for all of my recipes; I see recipes as inspiration for creative thinking in the kitchen.
Warning: it is a little on the spicy side.

Layered Sweet Potato and Greens Torte 

with Smoky Chipotle Peppers and Salty Cotija

Ingredients:

2 lbs. yams

1 bunch of collard greens

½ white onion

2 red bell peppers

1 cup chopped button mushrooms

1 small can chipotle peppers (in adobo sauce)

½ cup cotija cheese

¼ cup olive oil, for oiling pan

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Mince the onion and mushrooms, chiffonade the greens, and slice the yams into rounds that are 1/8 inch thick.  To roast the peppers, first put the flame of a gas burner on medium heat.  With tongs, place the peppers over the flame and char the skin until it becomes black. You can actually set the pepper on the burner and let it blacken that way- just make sure that you keep your eye on it.  Turn occasionally until nearly all of the pepper is charred.  Repeat with second pepper.  Remove from flame and cool.  With your fingers or a small knife, scrape off the black outer skin. To clean the pepper, remove the core, seeds and pithy veins.  It's OK if some black specs remain- I think that's the best part!  After making this mess -it's not the last!- wash your hands and chop.  Open the can of chipotle peppers, pick out the whole peppers, and place on cutting board.   Cut the tip/stem of the pepper off and de-seed.  Once they are clean, finely chop the chipotle peppers and place them in a bowl with the adobo sauce.

Generously oil the bottom of a spring-form pan (because the bottom will eventually be the top of the torte and you want it to brown a little).   Start by placing one yam slice in the center of the pan.   Layer the sweet potatoes around the center slice, overlapping them by at least a half.  Working in a circular motion is the easiest.  You can be creative at this point, mixing in smaller slices (from the ends of the potatoes) and making patterns. Once the bottom of the pan has been covered, begin adding the filling.

Sprinkle in some collards, onions, peppers, and mushrooms.  Scoop up a handful of chipotle sauce and gently massage it into the vegetables and toss. Sprinkle in some cotija.  Repeat layering of sweet potatoes and filling once.  Since the top of the pan will be the crust, layer a generous portion of sweet potatoes to completely cover the torte.

Put the spring-form pan on a baking sheet (with edges) to catch the liquid and put it in oven and bake for 50 minutes.  Remove from oven and carefully press the top of the torte to remove excess liquid.  Flip  the torte up-side down and place on baking sheet or oven-proof serving dish. To brown, place in the broiler for about 2 minutes, being careful that it doesn’t burn.  Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!