Ingredients
300g fresh linguine
2 lemons
extra virgin olive oil
1 small clove of garlic
1 bunch of fresh mint (30g)
500g asparagus
320g frozen peas
30g Parmesan cheese
optional: 180g rocket
Top Tip
To make the most of lemons, shake up another batch of the lemony oil, as above, and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days, shaking well before use. Use it to brush over meat, fish or veg before grilling, roasting or barbecuing. Or dress beautiful salads or simply dip bread straight into the jar.
Method
- Snap off the bottom third of the asparagus (save for soups), roughly chop into 3cm pieces at an angle and cook with the peas and linguine in a pan of boiling salted water for 3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, finely grate the lemon zest into a large jar with a lid, and squeeze in the juice – you need roughly 2 tablespoons. Drizzle in 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and finely grate in half the garlic. Screw the lid on tightly and give it a good shake until thick and creamy. Season to perfection with sea salt, black pepper and extra lemon juice, if needed.
- Pick and finely chop most of the mint leaves, reserving the baby ones for later. Drain the linguine and veg, reserving a mug of the starchy cooking water, then tip everything back into the pan. Pour over the lemony dressing, finely grate in most of the Parmesan and add the chopped mint. Use tongs to toss everything together so each strand of pasta is coated in the dressing, loosening with splashes of the cooking water to create a silky sauce. Season to taste with salt, pepper and extra lemon juice, if necessary.
- Divide between serving bowls, grate over the remaining Parmesan and sprinkle with the baby mint leaves. Delicious served with a peppery rocket salad in the sunshine.
Tags
