Getting a head start on dinner in the early hours of the morning before The Littles wake up is a must. Morning prep might be as little as cutting up vegetables or marinating meat for the grill. If I’m feeling more ambitious, I’ll make something like this featured recipe: pasta salad with crushed walnuts and mint. It’s a one-dish meal that can be enjoyed straight from the fridge.
This certainly isn’t your grandma’s pasta salad. The only things that qualifies it for the category is the pasta to vegetable ratio, the fact that it gets “better with age”, and that it includes a small splash of vinegar that both balances the richness of the walnuts and parmesan and lends that bit of sharpness you’re accustomed to.
Use whatever vegetables you have on hand. In place of the blanched asparagus, pea and sugar snaps I included in the recipe, try a mix of hearty greens like spicy arugula or mizuna, raw vegetables like thinly sliced bell peppers or pickled red onions, and/or cooked vegetables like roasted carrots or beets. Just keep the pasta:veg ratio to a minimum of 50:50 so that you feel virtuous for having had “salad” for dinner.
Ingredients
- ~2 scant cups walnuts, toasted at 350 degrees until golden brown and fragrant (about 10 minutes)
- 3 garlic cloves
- Generous handfuls of freshly grated parmesan (some for the walnut pesto and more to finish)
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- Splash of white or red wine vinegar (1 tsp+, taste and adjust)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- ~1/2 cup pasta cooking water
- ½ cup fresh mint leaves (or basil)
- 8+ cups prepped vegetables (I blanched 1 lb frozen English peas, 4 cups sugar snaps and 1 bunch asparagus cut on the bias
- as described below)
- 1 lb short pasta of choice
Method
To make the crushed walnut pesto: In a mortar and pestle, bash 3 plump garlic cloves with a pinch of salt until pulverized. Add in walnuts a couple handfuls at a time and continue to bash until the mix looks like an equal mix of sand and small pebbles. You can also do this in a food processor, giving the garlic a head start; just make sure not to over-process the mix.
Season the bashed walnuts and garlic with the zest and juice of 1 lemon, a small splash of vinegar, a generous amount of freshly cracked pepper, a big shower of freshly grated parm and a few glugs of evoo just to barely moisten. Taste and adjust however you’d like — more salt, acid, black pepper, etc. It should be addictive.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
Prepare your vegetables accordingly. If you’re replicating the pasta I made, you will blanch your vegetables so prepare an ice bath. Give the asparagus a 2-minute head start in the boiling water, then add the English peas and sugar snaps to the party for an additional minute. Using a spider or small strainer, transfer to vegetables to your ice bath. When cold, drain and pat dry. I sliced the sugar snap peas on the bias at this point but it’s not necessary.
In the same boiling water, add your pasta of choice and cook it according to package directions. Test it a minute early to ensure you don’t overcook it. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining the pasta.
Toss, toss, toss the hot pasta in a very large bowl with the walnut pesto and about ½ cup of pasta water until the pasta is glossy and saucy. Add in the blanched vegetables and fresh mint and toss a few more times. Taste and adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper. Add a splash more vinegar if it needs more oomph. Finish with a shower of freshly grated parmesan and generous drizzle of olive oil.
Enjoy! Serves 6
