Rosmarino is a short pasta - artigianale. It is ideal for soups and 'risotto' type pasta dishes. Creamed pistachio is a Scicilian delicacy commonly found in delicatessen or supermarkets. There are two variants, sweet and savoury. Savoury is usually made up of ground nuts, olive oil, salt and occasionally parmesan cheese. I used the savoury for this dish. Recipe is enough for four generous starters.
250g Rosmarino Pasta
100g wild asparagus
75g parmesan
3 spring onions chopped
two tbsp. chopped pistachio
1 tbsp. creamed pistachio
250ml chicken stock
3 tbsp. olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Pre Heat oven at 200c. Put heaped teaspoons of parmesan in a baking tray, leaving enough space fro one heap to another to spread, sprinkle with some chopped pistachio and bake for approx. 15 minutes till golden. Remove from oven and let the parmesan biscuits cool in oven tray. (leave 2 tbsp. of parmesan and 1 tbsps. chopped pistachio to use in pasta later)
In a small pan boil water and add 1/2 tsp salt. Blanch wild asparagus for just one minute. Drain and refresh with cold water. Pat dry and set aside.
Bring a medium pan of water to boil, add salt then pasta. Cook for just six minutes, reserve 1 cup of pasta water then drain. Return pasta, reserved water and stock to pan. Add chopped spring onions, creamed pistachio and stir over low heat. Pasta will continue to cook and absorb the liquids. Add parmesan Cheese, olive oil and roughly chopped wild asparagus. Season with fresh black pepper and give a final stir to obtain a creamy pasta dish.
Serve topped with cracked parmesan biscuits and a sprinkle of chopped pistachio.
