Green Garden feast

Welcome the start of the produce season in Wisconsin with this easy pasta using some of the first beautiful green veggies to pop in your garden. This is the perfect weeknight feast to enjoy on one of those first warm days where it stays light long enough to dine al fresco. While you could pair this pasta with spring lamb chops or meatballs, crispy chicken, steak, or fava beans, a pure vegetarian meal on weeknights can be just right.

Aperitif

The Jewel

Stir equal parts Gin, Sweet Vermouth, and Green Chartreuse, along with a dash of Orange Bitters, with ice. Strain into a coupe glass and serve with a lemon twist and a cocktail cherry.

First Course

Spring lettuce and radish salad

A simple and refreshing taste of the warming season and the return of sunshine. Fresh, beautiful, crisp lettuce with thinly sliced radishes, tossed in a light vinaigrette.

Main course

Asparagus Rigatoni Verde

Al dente rigatoni is coated in a brilliant green, emulsified sauce crafted from sweet blanched asparagus stalks, peppery garden arugula, and a premium blend of SarVecchio and Parmigiano-Reggiano. A quick sauté of fragrant green garlic and spring onion, deglazed with a splash of dry white wine, forms a savory base that perfectly complements the brightness of fresh lemon zest and juice. Finished with reserved, tender asparagus tips and an extra dusting of rich cheese, this dish is a beautifully balanced, luxurious tribute to early-season garden flavors.

Dessert

Vanilla ice cream with rhubarb compote

Fresh tart rhubarb is the perfect pairing for vanilla ice cream. In this feast, let your protein come from creamy ice cream to end your meal feeling perfectly satiated.

Ingredients

• Spring lettuce and radish salad

  • Small bowl of freshly washed lettuce from the garden

  • One bunch radishes, thinly sliced

  • Olive oil

  • Dijon

  • Lemon

  • Maldon salt

  • Freshly ground pepper

• Asparagus Rigatoni Verde:

  • 1 lb rigatoni, paccheri, or penne

  • 1 large bunch fresh asparagus (approx. 1 lb)

  • 2 packed cups fresh garden arugula, washed and dried

  • 1/2 cup high-quality extra-virgin olive oil (plus 2 tbsp for the pan)

  • 1/2 cup SarVecchio Parmesan and Parmigiano-Reggiano blend (plus more for serving)

  • 1 tablespoon green garlic, diced

  • 1 tablespoon spring onion diced

  • 1/2 lemon, zested and juiced

  • 1 splash dry white wine

  • Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

• Vanilla ice cream with rhubarb compote

  • Vanilla ice cream

  • ½ lb rhubarb, cut into one inch pieces

  • ¼ cup WI maple syrup

  • ½ tsp vanilla bean paste

  • ½ teaspoon ground cardamom

  • Maldon salt

Recipe

• Boil heavily salted water.

• Prep the veggies:

  • Chop asparagus into one inch chunks, preserving tops.

  • Wash and spin dry arugula

  • Dice spring onion and garlic

  • Zest and juice lemon

• When the water is boiling blanche the asparagus pieces for approximately two minutes. Use a pasta ladle to scoop out and asparagus pieces and put a plate with a paper towel to dry and cool. Separate asparagus heads from stalk pieces.

• Bring water back to a boil and add rigatoni. Boil until two minutes before the package recommends.

• Food process blanched asparagus stalk pieces, asparagus, cheese blend, olive oil, and a scoop of the pasta water for 60 seconds. It should be a relatively smooth beautifully green paste or quite thick sauce.

• With two minutes left in the cooking time, strain the pasta and preserve two cups of pasta water.

• In the pasta pot return heat to medium, add a splash of olive oil, and add the diced spring onion and green garlic. Heat for two to four minutes until soft but not browning.

• Deglaze with a splash of white wine.

• Then reduce heat to low and add the green garden veggie sauce and the strained pasta stirring constantly.

• Add lemon zest, juice, and a little pasta water at a time. Cook for another two to four minutes, adding splashes of the reserved pasta water as needed, until pasta is fully al dente and the sauce is emulsified and clinging to the rigatoni.

• Serve in pasta bowls with each bowl topped with a scattering of the blanched Asparagus heads and a small handful of the cheese blend.Spring lettuce and radish saladVanilla ice cream with rhubarb compote