Spelt pasta with asparagus two ways

Organic ingredients (serves 4):

500 g wholemeal spelt pasta

For the pesto:

500 g green asparagus
75 g Pecorino cheese, coarsely chopped
75 ml olive oil
5–6 sprigs of basil, coarsely chopped
5–6 sprigs of chives, coarsely chopped
5–6 redvein dock leaves (or other fresh herbs), coarsely chopped, plus additional leaves for garnishing
2 dashes of lemon juice
1 small garlic clove
Natural or sea salt

Ground pepper
A little cooking olive oil
 

Method:

Cook the spelt pasta in salt water until al dente, then drain, saving a little pasta water to toss the pasta in to prevent it from sticking together.

Roughly remove the woody ends from the green asparagus and cut into bite-size pieces. Put half of the asparagus (lower asparagus pieces) into a food processor with the remaining pesto ingredients and a dash of lemon juice and blend to the desired consistency. Season with extra salt and pepper to taste if required.

Place the upper asparagus pieces in a little cooking olive oil in a pan or on the Tepan grill and cook for about 3 minutes with a dash of lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Combine the pasta with the pesto, asparagus and additional herbs to taste then serve.