Our recipe for sautéed asparagus on goat’s cheese with dukkah and spinach pesto oil makes a filling snack that’s wonderful eaten with warmed sourdough, a fantastic light starter served on its own or mezze style as one of an array of appetisers, or a lovely side dish to grilled fish, skewers or chicken.
If you bought fresh seasonal asparagus this week and you’re wondering what to do with it – like a lovely older couple at Aldi who asked me how to cook fresh asparagus, as they’d only eaten tinned asparagus before; fair enough, asparagus can be expensive – then this is a quick, easy, affordable, and delicious dish idea for you that comes together in minutes.
This recipe for sautéed asparagus on goat cheese with dukkah and spinach pesto oil is super versatile. Skip the spinach pesto if it sounds like hard work after a busy week – I spotted baby spinach leaves on special so grabbed a bag; I’ll toss potato gnocchi in the spinach pesto with cream this weekend – you can use that opened jar of basil pesto you’ve got in the fridge instead.
If you liked our whipped feta cucumber salad with dukkah and blistered cherry tomatoes on goats cheese, you’ll love this. We’ve got more asparagus recipes for you, too, from Terence’s recipes for classic poached eggs, asparagus, pancetta and parmesan and his contemporary version of that dish made in Venice for Weekend Eggs, to my pan-fried asparagus on pesto hummus and gnocchi with asparagus, mushrooms, bacon and parmesan.
More about this sautéed asparagus on goat cheese with dukkah below. Looking for more cooking inspiration? We have many hundreds of recipes you can browse in our archives, and you can save recipes you like by clicking on the heart on the right of each post to save your favourites in your own private account.
Asparagus on Goat Cheese with Dukkah and Spinach Pesto Oil
There’s nothing like fresh seasonal produce to get you out of a cooking rut, including this food writer-cum-recipe developer, and that was the case with the arrival of spring Australian asparagus this week, and this sautéed asparagus on goat’s cheese with dukkah and spinach pesto oil was the result of that.
After a near-constant supply of Mexican asparagus for much of the year, Australian asparagus is finally in season and in the supermarkets. While it’s spindly and not as plump as the imported asparagus we’ve been getting, it tastes of spring; fresh, green and sweet when sautéed or pan-fried, so it’s just-cooked.
I’m not complaining about the skinny asparagus spears. I’d rather have access to affordable, delicious, sweet, fresh asparagus, as slim as they are, than no asparagus. We rarely get asparagus at home in Siem Reap and when we do it’s expensive and often tough in texture and lacklustre in flavour. So I’m celebrating asparagus this weekend!
Tips to Making this Sauteed Asparagus on Goat Cheese with Dukkah and Spinach Pesto Oil
Just a few tips to making this recipe for sautéed asparagus on goat’s cheese with dukkah and spinach pesto oil, as it’s super easy and made in just 20 minutes. Firstly, if you don’t have any dukkah on hand, make your dukkah first.
We have a recipe here for dukkah, the Middle Eastern nut, seed and spice condiment, which is versatile; it’s easily adaptable to whatever nuts, seeds and spices you have in your pantry. I use a mortar and pestle to pound the nuts and seeds. I love this handcrafted KROK mortar and pestle made by artisans in a village in Thailand.
I don’t recommend using a blender or food processor as you want the dukkah to have a rustic texture. It’s quick and easy to pound the nuts and seeds in a mortar and pestle. I pound some nuts so they’re more coarsely ground, others so they’re more finely ground, and leaves some nuts whole.
Don’t forget to transfer whatever dukkah you don’t use to an air-tight jar so it doesn’t go stale. I use a spice funnel to transfer the dukkah to a mason jar or clip-top Kilner jar.
You will need that mini food processor or good blender to make the spinach pesto. I spotted baby spinach leaves on special so grabbed a bag, but didn’t use them for a few days. While they weren’t great for the spinach salad I’d envisaged using them in, they were perfect for spinach pesto.
I stirred some of the spinach pesto into a dish of olive oil to create a spinach pesto oil and drizzled that over the asparagus. If it separates a little, which is due to the parmesan, just give it a quick stir and all will be good in the world again.
There’s loads of spinach pesto left, which I transferred to a jar, topped with a little extra virgin olive oil, and refrigerated. I’ll pour that in a pan and add cream and toss some potato gnocchi in that for dinner tonight.
Of course, if making spinach pesto sounds like hard work after a hectic week, use basil pesto if you have some in the fridge. I haven’t found a store-bought basil pesto I love yet, so I make this homemade basil pesto, but by all means use your favourite pesto.
I’ve used this fabulous spreadable goat’s cheese I’ve been buying, but you could use a soft Persian feta or even make some whipped feta. love fresh fresh dill and flat leaf parsley and think they work wonderfully with fresh asparagus but sprinkle on your favourite herbs or whatever you’re growing at home.
A generous drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil over the asparagus is essential. Use the best quality extra virgin olive oil you can find and afford. I’ve been using Australian extra virgin olive oils as they’re just so good, but use any good Mediterranean-style olive oil you can source.
If you’re having friends over this weekend, you could treat this sautéed asparagus on goat’s cheese with dukkah and spinach pesto oil as a mezze, serving it alongside a few other small plates and homemade dips and crispy pita chips, as one dish of an array of snacks, starters and salads.
It would work wonderfully alongside this eggplant dip or artichoke dip. It would also be a brilliant side to Mediterranean-style mains, such as keftedes (meatballs) and souvlaki (skewers). I’m also very happy eating this alone, scooping it up with toasted sourdough or piling it onto homemade croutons.
Asparagus on Goat Cheese with Dukkah and Spinach Pesto Oil
Ingredients
Spinach Pesto
- 3 cups baby spinach leaves - washed and dried
- 1 garlic clove - pounded with a pestle
- ½ cup mixed nuts - almonds, walnuts, cashews, peanuts, whatever you like
- ½ cup Parmesan - grated
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cracked black pepper
Asparagus
- 200 g goat’s cheese - preferably spreadable
- 1 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley - small leaves only or finely chopped, divided
- 1 tbsp fresh dill - small sprigs, divided
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil - divided
- 12 asparagus spears - washed and dried
- ¼ tsp flaky sea salt
- ¼ tsp ground cracked black pepper
- 2 tbsp dukkah - see recipe
Instructions
- Make the spinach pesto: toss the baby spinach leaves, pounded garlic clove, mixed nuts, grated Parmesan, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and cracked black pepper in a small food processor or blender and blitz until you have a smooth paste – or pound everything together in a mortar and pestle.
- Cook the asparagus: coat a frying pan over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil; when the oil is hot and shimmering, add the asparagus spears, flaky sea salt and ground cracked black pepper, and sauté for 5-10 minutes until the asparagus is cooked to your liking. Five minutes will result in tender asparagus spears that are still firm, but cook the asparagus for ten minutes or more if you prefer the spears softer.
- Prep the serving plate: use a large tablespoon to spread the goat’s cheese out onto a serving plate, so it has a rustic, textured appearance. Sprinkle on half the fresh dill and flat leaf parsley. In a small dish, stir a couple of tablespoons of the spinach pesto and drizzle half over the goat’s cheese and herbs.
- Use tongs to transfer the asparagus spears to the serving plate. Drizzle on more of the spinach pesto oil over the asparagus spears. Sprinkle on the dukkah, grind on a little more cracked black pepper and sea salt, and serve with crusty sourdough.
- To serve: more extra virgin olive oil to drizzle on top, flaky sea salt and cracked black pepper, and warm sourdough on the table.
Nutrition
Please do let us know in the Comments section below if you make this sautéed asparagus on goat’s cheese with dukkah and spinach pesto oil, as we love to hear how recipes we share turn out for our readers.
