Kirkland Wednesday Market and Whole Grain Rotini With Asparagus Pesto

This is one of the best times of the year. Apart from the good weather that you get to enjoy, there are tons of farmers markets everywhere in the city and even more tons of fresh produce everywhere. I just feel soo good, whenever i buy something form the farmers market. More than just the shopping, its those little chats that you have with the growers there and of course, meeting lots of other people and the food stalls!!! Its always an afternoon well spent for me.

Last Wednesday I went to the Kirkland Farmers Market with my friend. They have now moved their location from near the transit center where they had it last year to the marina park by the waterfront. There is so much more space now and you also get to sit by the waterfront and enjoy a cup of coffee with some kettle corn after all the shopping!! The produce is still a little less, there a lot of salad greens, garlic greens, asparagus, rhubarb, onions and so on, but the berries haven’t come in yet as well as the tomatoes. I did not go this week, so probably they are already there.  I bought some fresh flowers, asparagus, rhubarb ( which you saw in my strawberry rhubarb loaf), onions and of course some raspberry strudel to munch on!!

That’s the strudel i had and the scenic waterfront i enjoyed!!

So, I bought the asparagus with the intention of using it fresh for dinner that night and I did not want to make the regular grilled asparagus that i always make.So, i thought i will just put it in my pasta and thats when i wondered how it will be to make an asparagus pesto. I grabbed a couple of things from the refrigerator, my pantry and my little garden on the deck and this is what i made and it really was delicious that Im thinking of making it again this week.

Whole Grain Rotini with Asparagus Pesto

Ingredients

Break off the woody ends of the asparagus and throw away. Trim the heads and keep aside. Now cut the asparagus spears into i inch length pieces. Bring some water to a boil and put the asparagus pieces into it. Let it boil for a while till they become slightly cooked. Keep some ice and water ready in a bowl. Take out the asparagus with a slotted spoon and dunk them in the ice cold water.Keep the warm water as it is and cook your pasta in it instead of fresh water. This way a slight asparagus -y flavour creeps into your pasta! Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F and grill the asparagus heads with a little salt.

Now add the asparagus, parsley, cilantro and the toasted nuts to a blender or food processor and blend well to a puree. Add the olive oil little by little and blend well. Towards the end add the parmesan and kosher salt as well and give it another quick blend.

Heat some oil in a pan and add the pesto to it. Add in the pasta as well and give it a couple of quick stirs. Check seasoning and add more salt , if required and freshly ground black pepper also. Serve by topping with the grape tomatoes, grilled asparagus heads and freshly grated parmagiano reggiano!!