Asparagus Pesto with Whole Wheat Linguini and a side of Bacon infused Fingerling Potatoes

I've been working on this post for nearly two weeks because it has been brutal at the Old Day Job.  A ton of deadlines and things that have to get out the door, it's really sapping a good bit of my energy.  I meant to write this up two Monday's ago but that was a pipe dream.  I was however able to get a little bit of short story written this week, which is good, because I need to have it done by this coming Monday.  Hopefully that's not a pipe dream too.

Enough complaining about how busy I am, on to the good stuff.  I was able to cook for my Lady a couple of weekends back and it turned out amazing.  It was so nice to get to cook for someone.  I love watching people enjoy the things I make.

I made us an Asparagus Pesto with Whole Wheat Linguini and a side of Bacon infused Fingerling Potatoes.  Both the side and the main dish came out really well.  They balanced each other perfectly and had the plus side of being an almost healthy, almost vegetarian meal.

Asparagus Pesto with Whole Wheat Linguini

What you'll need:

·         A pound of Whole Wheat Linguine

·         ½ a pound of Asparagus

·         ½ a cup of Spinach

·         ½ cup of cheese

·         ¼ cup of olive oil

·         1 clove of Garlic

·         50 pistachios

·         The juice from ½ a lime

·         Salt

·         a sauce pan/small pot

·         A pot (for the Linguine)

·         A blender

·         A good spatula (not a turner)

·         A good collider

The steps

1.     Cut your Asparagus into two inch pieces

2.     Bring a small pot of water to a boil and pop in your Asparagus.  Cook at a simmer for 9 minutes

3.     Add the Spinach to the pot and let cook for another minute or two

4.     Optional Step:  Both of us have stomach issues and garlic tends to be a no-no for us.  Here is a little trick to get a bit of the garlic flavor without hurting the old tummy. While the veggies cook take the pealed piece Garlic and rub down the inside of the blender.  Really get the oils all over the thing.  This will transfer the flavor to whatever we put in the blender without having to eat the garlic. Throw away the piece of garlic when you are done.

5.     Drain the veggies and pop them in the blender, add in the cheese and nuts as well.

6.     Blend on pulse till smooth

7.     Add in the lime juice and salt to taste.  Give it a few more pulses.

8.     Cook the Linguine as directed on the box for Al Dente, keep a little bit of the water in a cup after wards.

9.     In a bowl pour the pesto over top the Linguine, add a splash of pasta water as need be to help thin out the Pesto.

Bacon infused Fingerling Potatoes

What you'll need:

·         A Pound Fingerling Potatoes

·         Salt

·         Black Pepper

·         4 to 5 slices of Thick Bacon

·         3 to 4 sprigs of Rosemary

·         A Pot

·         Cast Iron Skillet

The Steps

1.     Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees

2.     Put the Potatoes in the pot and cover them with just enough water so their all submerged

3.     Boil the Potatoes till they are tenders about 8 minutes or so.

4.     Run the Potatoes under some cold water so you can handle them quicker

5.     Cut the Potatoes in half

6.     Season with Salt and Pepper

7.     Cut the Bacon into half inch piece

8.     Cook the Bacon in the Cast Iron skillet under medium heat until the just start to crisp up and the pan in full of bacon grease

9.     Add the Potatoes and Rosemary

10.  Up the heat to medium-high and pan sear the Potatoes for 5 minutes or so, make sure to move the around so the get cooked on each side

11.  Pop the cast iron skillet into the oven for about 15 minutes or so

12.  Put the cast iron skillet back on the stove top, under high heat and crisp up the Potatoes for another minute or so, adding in more salt and Pepper to taste.

More good news, we are moving full steam ahead on the comic.  I was email some fully colored page from Kelsea this morning and they look tremendous.  I'm super excited to letter them.  We're getting closer and closer, I can't wait to share it with you.  My hope is that I'll be able to do that in the near future.  Another thing I'm looking forward to sharing with you the amazing prints I'm having commissioned to be part of a Kickstarter we will be doing for the first issue.  It's a little too soon to give too many details about that yet, but check in on the website early and often www.tal-nor.com

Speaking of Kickstarter, I have one I would like to share with you.  A story I wrote will be featured in the upcoming 27, A Comic Anthology from Red Stylo Media.  It looks to be an amazing book.  Red Stylo is currently running a Kickstarter for a special limited Hardback edition of the book.  They are only going to make 1000 of these Hard Rock editions so pick yours up today.

That's all I have for now.  I have to get back to writing stories and testing software.

Till next time, keep making things,

T.