I originally planned to roast the asparagus and make a traditional pesto with it - adding basil, Parmesan, pine nuts and oil and blitzing the spears. The more I thought about this, the less it appealed. It felt heavy and oily rather than unctuous.
I wanted something lighter, grassy and herbaceous so have put together a slightly unconventional pesto. Those of you who are watching your weight will like this pesto as a minimal amount of oil is incorporated into the final product. The oregano adds a much needed woodsy element and only semi cooking the asparagus allows it to retain its color and flavor. It is unfortunate that I underestimated the ratio of pesto to pasta as, though it tasted as I wanted it to, it was a bit sparse once distributed amongst the noodles. I should have used my immersion blender and liquidized it.
Despite that mishap, this tastes of spring; even an elusive one.
This served 2 people but I would actually use the recipe for one or, as mentioned above, puree it to make the pesto slightly closer to regular pesto in consistency.
1 bunch pencil asparagus, woody ends removed
2 tsps finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1/4 cup Parmesan, ground
Salt to taste
Place the oil and the garlic in a skillet over the lowest heat possible. Once the garlic starts to sizzle, turn off the heat and set the pan to the side while you cook your pasta of choice.
While the oil is heating, chop the oregano and the asparagus into the finest slivers you can.
As soon as your pasta is cooked and ready to be drained, remove 1/4 cup of the pasta water and set aside.
Put the pan containing the garlic oil back on the heat and let the garlic clove sizzle around the edges one more time. Remove the clove from the pan and discard it, add the oregano and asparagus. Stir well and add the pasta water and the Parmesan. Mix well to form a sauce as the Parmesan starts to melt.
This is where I went wrong as I then added the pasta to the asparagus and stirred to mix the two. If you decide to make it, blitz the sauce off the heat with an immersion blender to make a puree and then mix with the pasta. That will be both tastier and prettier.