RED LENTIL SPAGHETTI WITH CELERY PESTO AND ALMONDS
11.28 oz Barilla red lentil spaghetti
For the celery pesto:
1.76 oz celery leaves
1 carrot
1 leek
1 whole fennel with the green tuft
1.76 oz peas
3 celery stalks, possibly white (or, alternatively, celery heart)
1 clove of garlic
1.76 oz peeled almonds
0.70 oz extra virgin olive oil
1.76 oz grated mature Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
3.52 oz unsweetened almond milk
salt and pepper
½ grated lemon peel
For the final garnish:
1.05 oz extra virgin olive oil
0.70 oz sliced almonds
1 tuft of fennel taken from the fennel used for the Pesto…
a pinch of salt
Fill and bring to boil a pot with plenty of water, once boiling add some salt. You will need it first to blanch the vegetables for the pesto and then to cook the pasta.
Wash the vegetables thoroughly: carrot, leek, garlic, fennel without the tuft, celery leaves, celery stalks and peas; cup them up coarsely and blanch quickly for a few minutes in the pot filled with water.
Once they are done, cool in water and ice, then drain well (remember not to throw away the water that you will use to cook the pasta with); put it all in the blender, then add the Parmesan cheese, almonds, salt and pepper and, a bit at a time, the almond milk. Then add a drizzle of olive oil and the grated lemon peel.
Cook the pasta in the water you cooked the vegetables in for three-quarters of the time specified on the package, then drain it and put it in a pan with the pesto. In this case heating the pesto is not a problem, since all the vegetables have been already cooked.
If needed, add some pasta cooking water so as to mix it well.
Place the pasta on a serving plate and garnish with the sliced almonds, a few tufts of fennel and a drizzle of olive oil.
Chef’s tips
This type of pasta allows you to savour the taste of the legumes and gives the dish a distinctive flavour.
Unlike traditional pasta, with this product you will need to make sure you get the right amount of pasta and sauce. Instead of the usual amounts (3.5 oz pasta – 3.5 oz sauce), in this case the amounts should be 3.5 oz of pasta and 10.6 oz of sauce, since this type of product requires much more sauce.
