Fresh linguini tossed with butter beans, caramelized shallots, and basil, served in a pool of garlic pea sauce.

Maybe I’m in a green phase because I feel a bit like Andy Warhol right now for making all these bright green dishes. Perhaps I was channeling Warhol from the dead - or someone else for that matter - because I have no idea where this meal came from, I only know that it was fantastic!

So here’s what we did:

Make fresh pasta. I love making fresh pasta, and with our Kitchen Aid mixer it’s sooo easy. We use a version of the Kitchen Aid recipe that we’ve tweaked:

5 medium eggs

3 Tbsp water

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 ½ cups semolina four

1 tsp. fine sea salt

Place ingredients in this order into your mixing bowl: flour, salt, eggs, water and oil. Use your paddle attachment until you have a consistent mix. If the dough mix still looks dry, add a little bit of oil or water, but be careful to not overwet the mix. We’re going for a consistency just like PlayDough. Once you have a good consistency, switch to the dough hook and work into a ball for about 2 minutes. Break up this ball into 8 smaller balls, and that’s what you’re going to roll. We rolled our sheets to a 5 before cutting them.

The sauce. This sauce is simple:

6oz of frozen or fresh peas

1 Tbsp of butter

3 cloves of garlic

1 cup Half & Half

Salt and pepper to taste

Sautée the peas in butter until they are tender. Then add your garlic and stir to prevent burning for about 2 minutes. Adding the garlic second assures you won’t burn it and will give it a stronger taste in your sauce. Then add your Half & Half. Stir and bring to a light simmer. Remove from heat and use a stick blender or a food processor to purée the sauce to a desired consistency (I liked ours a little chunky). Add salt and pepper to taste.

The Beans:

I have no idea where I got the idea to use Butter Beans, other than that they came to me in a vision and I was guided to them in our local grocery store. I used canned Butter Beans, but I’m sure fresh ones are even better. You’ll need:

1 Shallot

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 can of Butter Beans

1 sprig of Fresh Basil chopped or hand torn

Sautée the Shallot in olive oil until it begins to turn translucent. Add your butter beans and sautée for a couple of minutes. When the skin of the beans begin to wrinkle or slightly brown, remove them from the heat and add your basil. Done.

Here’s how I assembled the dish. Boil your pasta for about a minute…just until it’s tender…remember it will continue to cook a bit from the trapped heat once you strain it. Place it in a mixing bowl and add your bean mix. Mix well adding olive oil, as needed, to coat all the noodles. Ladle your sauce onto place and with a set of tongs place your pasta on top. Grate fresh Parmesan on top and serve warm. Serves 2 - 4