Roast asparagus, beetroot, artichoke & walnut pasta

Continuing our artichoke journey from my previous post, using the artichoke heart I made a sumptuous roast veggie pasta.  

Ingredients

1/2 a packet penne pasta (gluten free option)

6 Asparagus

1 Beetroot (boiled)

2 Artichoke hearts

6 Walnuts

2 Tbsp Basil Pesto

1 Lemon juice

3 Garlic Cloves

1/2 Red onion

Handful of basil leaves

Olive oil

Pepper & Salt

Instructions

Turn the oven onto 150 degrees (bake), prepare a oven tray with asparagus, garlic and beetroot (chunky chopped) tossed in olive oil and salt. Bake in the oven for 30mins.

Place pasta in boiling water, and cook for 15-20mins or until cooked through. In a bowl soak the finely chopped red onion in lemon juice for 10 minutes then mix the walnuts, basil pesto and crumbled artichoke hearts.

Once pasta is cooked, drain and place in a large bowl. Stir through the roast veggies and the rest of the ingredients. Top with basil and season with pepper and salt.

Dotty about food: How to cook an artichoke

Dotty about food: How to cook an artichoke: I have often wondered about the mysterious artichoke and how it goes from its flower head form to its delicious hearts in a jar, on the sup...

How to cook an artichoke

I have often wondered about the mysterious artichoke and how it goes from its flower head form to its delicious hearts in a jar, on the supermarket shelf, finish.

So I thought I'd investigate...

Step 1.

Buy an artichoke

Step 2.

Do a bit of googling

Step 3.

Boil a pot of water

Step 4.

Give it a haircut: Trim spiky tips off leaves & chop the tip off and any excess stalk

Step 5.

Put said artichoke into the boiling water and drown it with a smaller pot lid

Step 6.

Get fancy: Put some lemon, garlic cloves and pepper corns in the mix

Step 7.

Go watch something riveting for 30-40 minutes

Step 8.

Poke the artichoke to see if its cooked (should be nice and soft)

Step 9.

Remove the drowned artichoke, only to cut the poor bastard in half!

Step 10.

Scoop out its furry bits

Step 11. 

Pull leaves and dip!

Stay tuned for what I did with it's heart...