Chunky Asparagus Pesto

Something I learned from my mother was to be resourceful and creative by using up ingredients that are already on hand. In fact, when I lived with my parents after law school, my mother and I would play a silly game to see who could conceptualize a better dish with what we had in the house. Whoever had the better idea got to make the meal and the loser was left to wash the dishes. (I washed a lot of dishes during those days.)  I still call my mother whenever I find a clever way to use up old ingredients in my kitchen and fridge and I honestly think she takes deep pride in this. I didn't have a plan when I purchased asparagus and basil earlier in the week, but I was thrilled when I realized I could use up some fresh mint from the week before and some pistachios that have been sitting in my pantry for quite some time if I threw everything into a pesto. And that's exactly what I did. (Mumma, are you reading this? That's TWO things I used up!) I pulsed the ingredients together only a few times so that the chunks of asparagus and pistachios would have some bite. 

Ingredients (makes about 2.5 cups): 

Asparagus (20 medium stalks), fresh basil (2 packed cups), raw shelled pistachios (2/3 cup), fresh mint (1/2 cup), garlic (2 cloves, roughly copped), extra virgin olive oil (2/3 cup), sea salt (1/3 ts or more to taste), lemon juice (1/4 lemon).  

Equipment: Food processor, steamer.

Preparation (15 minutes):

• Snap off the woody ends of the asparagus and cook the stalks in the steamer for about 2 minutes, just until they turn bright green. 
• Remove the asparagus stalks from the steamer immediately and give them a rough chop.
• Place the chopped asparagus, basil, pistachios, mint, garlic and salt in your food processor.
• Pulse the ingredients a few times, adding a little olive oil between each pulse. Add extra olive oil if you would like a richer pesto.*
• Continue pulsing to desired consistency.**
• Add lemon juice and adjust salt to taste.  
• Toss with pasta or spread over some toasted crostini.***

Notes:

* I used less olive oil because I wanted the pesto to be light and I wanted the asparagus to come through. 

** Do not over pulse the pesto, it will become watery.

***I tossed the pesto with whole wheat spaghetti and added chopped sun-dried tomatoes and a few spoons of non-dairy yogurt (I used Forager Project Cashewgurt) to make it a bit creamy.