Spinach pappardelle with asparagus and garden herb pesto
Spring cuisine at its finest: Tender spinach pappardelle meets aromatic asparagus, juicy cherry tomatoes, and a fresh garden herb pesto. TV chef Johann Lafer shows how to create a sophisticated pasta dish from just a few ingredients.
- 1 pinch of salt
- 3 eggs (size M)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 100g thawed frozen leaf spinach
- 100 g Hartweizengrieß
- 150 g flour
- 50 g walnut kernels
- 75 g Pecorino
- 100 g herbs (e.g. flat-leaf parsley, chives, chervil, cress, sorrel)
- 75 ml mild rapeseed oil
- 75 ml sunflower oil
- sea salt
- Pepper from the mill
- 75 g Butter
- 250g ripe small cherry tomatoes
- 6-8 thin spears of white asparagus
- Squeeze the spinach to remove excess moisture, then purée it with the eggs in a tall mixing bowl using an immersion blender until very smooth. Knead the mixture with the flour, semolina, and salt to form a smooth, pliable dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, roughly chop the walnuts for the pesto and toast them in a dry pan until golden brown, turning them frequently as they burn easily. Let them cool. Rinse the herbs, shake them dry, pluck the leaves, and roughly chop them. Grind the walnuts with a pinch of coarse sea salt and the herbs in a mortar and pestle until finely crushed. Gradually add the two types of oil and mix them in. Alternatively, you can finely purée all the ingredients except the cheese in a tall mixing bowl using an immersion blender. Finely grate the Pecorino cheese and mix it into the pesto. Finally, season everything with salt and pepper.
- The pasta dough is best processed into pappardelle using a pasta machine, or rolled out on a floured work surface to a thickness of approximately 1 mm, dusted evenly with flour, and rolled up again. Cut the roll of dough into strips approximately 1.5 cm wide with a knife, then fluff them up.
- Trim the woody ends off the asparagus. Peel the asparagus, cut off the woody ends, and slice diagonally into approximately 5 mm thick slices. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Sauté both in melted butter in a large, wide pan for about 5–6 minutes, seasoning generously with salt and pepper. Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water for about 5 minutes. Drain, add to the asparagus and tomatoes in the pan, and toss to combine. Divide the pasta among deep plates, top with pesto, and serve.
For the spinach pappardelle
pinch of salt
olive oil
- 100 g
- 100 g
durum wheat semolina
- 150 g
- 50 g
Walnusskerne
- 75 g
Pecorino
- 100 g
Herbs (e.g. flat-leaf parsley, chives, chervil, cress, sorrel)
- 75 ml
- 75 ml
- 75 g
Butter
- 250 g
Recipe for
persons
Meanwhile, roughly chop the walnuts for the pesto and toast them in a dry pan until golden brown, turning them frequently as they burn easily. Let them cool. Rinse the herbs, shake them dry, pluck the leaves, and roughly chop them. Grind the walnuts with a pinch of coarse sea salt and the herbs in a mortar until finely crushed. Then gradually add the two types of oil and mix them in.
Alternatively, you can finely purée all the ingredients except the cheese in a tall mixing bowl using an immersion blender. Finely grate the Pecorino and mix it into the pesto.
Finally, season everything with salt and pepper.
