Asparagus and Arugula Pasta with Almond-Parmesan Crumble

The first recipe I tried was this asparagus linguine with almond butter crisp, and oh man was it good. The crisp, which is made from roasted garlic, butter, toasted almonds, bread crumbs, parmesan, and a dash of red pepper, is like crack – it’s not good for you and you just can’t stop. Good thing there’s a bit of nutrition in the rest of the dish – it’s by no means diet food, but the large quantities of arugula and asparagus bulk up its health factor a little.

Asparagus Linguine with Almond Butter Crisp

Serves 4.

• 2 heads garlic
• 3 TBS butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 c. panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 3/4 c. slivered almonds, toasted
• 3/4 lb. linguine
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 lb asparagus, sliced diagonally into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 c. chicken broth
• 2 TBS soy sauce
• 5 oz. (1 standard grocery store container) baby arugula
• 2 TBS preserved lemon, sliced thinly
• 8 sprigs fresh mint

1. Roast the garlic – cut off the top of the garlic heads, and place heads, skins and all, in a tinfoil pouch with a bit of olive oil and sea salt.  Roast in the oven for 40 minutes at 400ºF.  Let cool, then squeeze the cloves out of the skins and into a bowl.  (I did this step the morning before, so the dinner-making process would take less time).
2. Mash the roasted garlic with the butter, parmesan, panko, and red pepper flakes, until crumbly.  Stir in toasted almonds, and place mixture in fridge until just before toasting.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add linguine, and cook according to package directions.
4. At the same time you add the linguine to the water, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add the asparagus pieces, and sautee for 3-4 minutes, or until bright green.  At this point, add the chicken broth, soy sauce, and 1/3 c. of the pasta water (just dip a cup measure into the pot while it’s cooking and add it to the sauce).  Turn the heat up to medium high, and let cook until sauce is reduced by 1/2, about 3 minutes.  Add the preserved lemon and arugula and turn off heat, stirring to wilt the arugula.  If you’re lucky, your pasta will have finished while the sauce is reducing, and you can just add the sauce to the drained pasta.  If not, wait for the pasta to finish cooking, drain, then add the asparagus and arugula sauce to the pasta pot.
5. Return the frying pan (now empty of sauce) to the stove, over medium heat.  Add the chilled almond-butter mixture to the pan in a single layer, and fry, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown.  Turn off heat.  Plate the pasta, and top each portion with some of the almond crisp and 2 sprigs of mint.  (Alternatively, you can add the mint to the sauce with the arugula).