- Salt, for the pasta water
- 1 cup fresh picked basil leaves
- 1/2 cup fresh picked parsley
- 6 cloves of garlic
- Fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 1/2cup of heavy cream
- 1 cup freshly grated pecorino Romano
- 8-10 asparagus
- 1 pint of whole cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of freshly ground black pepper
- Sea salt to taste
- 1 pound of Penne pasta
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
In a blender, place the basil, parsley, garlic, black pepper, and half of the olive oil. Process in short bursts until roughly chopped. Turn blender on full speed and drizzle in the remaining oil, cream, and grated pecorino Romano. Process until smooth, about 1 minute. Remove the resulting creamy pesto from the blender and place in a large bowl. Set aside for 1 hour.
Marinate asparagus and cherry tomatoes with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place them on a hot grill for about 2 minutes on each side. Remove from grill and cut asparagus into 1 inch pieces and toss w/cherry tomatoes.
Cook pasta according to the package directions until just al dente. Drain well and place the cooked pasta in a fry pan w/creamy pesto, cut asparagus, cherry tomatoes on low heat. Stir and coat pasta and remove immediately from low heat. Top w/pine nuts.
