gluten free by nature — casein, soy and entirely almost sugar free…

I had some fresh asparagus in my fridge today. And all I could think of was pairing it with pasta and a really great white sauce. Today was almost 100 degrees. So, naturally, I wanted something really light and fresh tasting. Nothing that was going to bog me down. So, I tried my hand at a zesty lemon dill sauce. I always find it a bit challenging to pair things with asparagus. But, I think this did the job quite nicely. The sauce in this dish was screaming for some sauteed shrimp. But, we cannot do shellfish in our house, so….This is a relatively quick dinner. (I made the sauce while the water was coming to a boil and) it took me just under 30 minutes.

1 tblsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 shallot, minced
3/4 cup non-dairy milk
1 tblsp water
1 tblsp arrowroot starch
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
3 tblsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tblsp lemon zest (about 2 small lemons)
2 tblsp fresh dill
1 package rice noodles
1 1/2 cups blanched asparagus

For sauce:
Melt ghee in saucepan then add shallots.
While shallots are browning, thoroughly mix 1 tblsp arrowroot starch (or corn starch) with 1 tblsp water.After about 5 minutes, whisk in milk and starch mixture and stir for several minutes until thickened. Add in salt, pepper, lemon juice, zest and dill and stir well to combine.

For asparagus:
Boil about 2 quarts water in a stockpot. While water is coming to a boil, take one asparagus and hold one end in each hand. Gently bend the asparagus until the non-speared end naturally snaps . This eliminates the tough end of the asparagus the natural way. Use this asparagus as a guide for all the other asparagus. Line them up, and cut evenly along the same line. Split the asparagus into 2 batches. When water has come to a boil,  add the first batch of asparagus. Let simmer for 3 minutes. While asparagus is cooking, prepare a cold water bath in a large bowl full of ice and cold water. Remove asparagus promptly with tongs or a wire basket and plunge asparagus directly into the cold water bath to stop cooking. This is called “blanching”. Remove after 2 minutes and pay dry on some paper towels.
Now, place second batch of asparagus in boiling water, simmer for 3 minutes, and blanch. Cut the asparagus as you like: I cut mine on the diagonal into 3 pieces.

For the noodles:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add noodles. Cook 2 minutes. Drain.

Toss all ingredients together in a serving bowl. Or plate the pasta, layer some asparagus spears on top and drizzle some sauce over the top. If you plan on making extra pasta  – do double the sauce.

Tags: asparagus white sauce pasta, dairy free cream sauce, gluten free cream sauce, lemon dill cream sauce

This entry was posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 5pm and is filed under dinner, main course. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.