Pasta with asparagus pesto

Easter is over now and just a few leftovers in the fridge still reminds us of the food craziness that got all of us for a few days... Now we have to return to our normal food habits and I think a light and seasonal pasta dish is a good start. This is a fast and tasty Spring-time dish to enjoy the asparagus now that they are in season.An easy recipe to put together for a light meal but quite filling at the same time

Adapted from a recipe of Dimitris Andreou,
in "Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for 4 people)
1 packet of rotini or fusilli pasta (450-500gr.)

For the pesto:
1 bunch of fresh asaparagus
2 cloves of garlic, cut in halves
3/4 tea-cup of olive oil
100gr. blanched almonds, cut in halves
4-5 sprigs of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
150gr. of Greek Kefalograviera cheese, grated (I used Greek Kefalotyri)
some of the water the pasta boiled in
salt
pepper

Method:
Boil the pasta in plenty of salted water according to your preference and keep aside in the water. Save 1 cup of the water for the pesto.

Cut off and discard the hard ends of the asparagus. Rinse them well under cold running water. Peel their stalks and them cut in slices. Cook the asparagus in a saucepan of salted boiling water for 10 minutes and then drain in a colander.

Put the oil, the garlic and the almonds in a blender and whiz until you have a homogeneous mixture. Add the asparagus and gradually the parsley and the cheese in turns while whizzing. If the mixture gets a bit firm add a little bit of the water the pasta was boiled in.

Drain the pasta in a colander and transfer back to the pot. Empty the pesto in and gently stir making sure the pasta is well coated by the sauce.

Serve immediately, garnishing on top with cheese flakes and plenty of pepper.