When asparagus is in season, do you also find yourself buying pounds and pounds of it and eating it with everything? Well that is me and I think I do it because one, I only eat asparagus when it is in season which is now and only for a little while so I eat it when I can. And two, there is not a whole heck of a lot in season right now so asparagus it is until other stuff starts growing. Oh and three. I really freaking love it so you know, theres that.
This is just a quick pasta dinner situation that involves the fine spring time asparagus. Nothing fussy, takes all of 15 minutes to make and fills you up all happy like. Its creamy from sunflower butter, lemony from lemon, and full of protein from the chickpeas because we all love chickpeas. All of it is tossed together and tastes fantastic in your mouth like all food going Ito your mouth should.
Now to the pasta.
The stuff. Asparagus, chickpeas, angle hair pasta, sunflower butter, a couple cloves garlic, a lemon, soy sauce, and black pepper.
Grab asparagus and cut of the woody ends then cut the stalks into smaller pieces.
Place the cut ap asparagus onto a sheet pan along with the chickpeas. You can toss with a little oil if you want.. I didn’t.
Cook up pasta. You know what to do.
Then mince up the garlic and zest the lemon .
Once pasta is cooked (air on the side of al dente) strain the pasta but reserve about 1 1/2 cups of the starchy liquid.
Once asparagus ans chickpeas are cooked, remove from oven.
Once the pasta is out of pot, make the sauce. Add garlic and a teaspoon of oil to pot along with a splash or water. Cook for a few minutes until it get fragrant then add in the sunflower seed butter, soy and about a 1/4 cup pasta water. Mix around until it forms a paste then add in another 1/2 cup of pasta water to thin it out.
Add in the cooked pastas and toss until evenly coasted with the sauce.
Then dump pasta into a big bowl. Dump the cooked asparagus and chickpeas into the pasta and toss around.
And all is left is for you to grab a couple bowls and pile it in and eat.
Simple.
-C
creamy Lemon Chickpea asparagus Pasta
serves 2-3 people
1/2 pound long noodle pasta (I used angle hair)
1/4 cup sunflower butter or tahini
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (drained from liquid)
3/4 pound of asparagus
1 lemon
2 gloves garlic
1- 1 1/2 cups water (use water from pasta)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
black pepper
Preheat oven to 425
Grab asparagus and remove any woody ends of the stalks. Cut the stalks into smaller pieces anut 1- 1 1/2 inches long. Place on a baking sheet along with the drained chick peas. If you want, toss around in a teaspoon or so of olive oil. I did not and did not miss it. Place baking sheet into hot oven. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the asparagus is cooked to your liking. The chick peas are done when the asparagus is done.
While the asparagus and chickpeas are roasting, make pasta. Boil water and cook the pasta for the amount of time the it takes (check package). Once cooked, stain pasta from pot but reserve about 1 1/2 cups of the starchy water.
And mince up the garlic and zest the lemon.
In the now empty pot add in a teaspoon of oil, a splash of water, and the mince garlic. Cook on medium heat for a couple minutes just to soften the garlic up. Turn the heat off then add in the sunflower butter or tahini, the soy, the juice of the lemon and about 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta water. Mix until completely incorporated and pasty. Add in another 1/2 cup of the pasta water to thin it out.
Add pasta to the sauce and toss until completely coated then dump it all into a big bowl. IF the sauce if to thick to toss with pasta, add in a little bit more starchy water to lose it up. Grab the roasted asparagus and chickpeas and toss them into pasta along with a teaspoon or so of the lemon zest. Top with freshly ground black pepper.
Now Eat.
Can be serves hot, room temperature, or cold.