• Coat prepared vegetables with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. Grill vegetables slices, whole asparagus, and whole tomatoes until desired doneness. Chop into 1-inch pieces and set aside.
• To make the pesto, wash and dry basil thoroughly. Place basil, pine nuts, chopped garlic, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor. Process quickly to make a coarse paste. With the motor running add the olive oil, and process for another 5 seconds. Place pesto in a medium bowl and mix in the cheeses. Mix in butter if using. If pesto is too thick add a bit more olive oil. Taste and correct for salt.
• Put the desired amount of pesto in a large bowl (enough to accommodate all the pasta and vegetables, plus room for tossing). Add the cooked pasta, toss thoroughly, adding more pesto to taste. Add diced grilled vegetables, gently toss again. Adjust seasonings. Top with additional parmesan cheese if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Make the Sauce

• Saute the onion and garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil, on medium heat until translucent. Be sure to stir occasionally so it doesn’t burn. When the onions are done, add the spinach and cook just until wilted.
• Transfer the cooked spinach and onion to a blender. Add the basil, rest of the oil, garlic, milk, cheese, pecans, salt and pepper. Blend well, taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside until pasta is ready.

Make Pasta and Veggies

• Heat a large pot of salted water to boil. When boiling, add noodles and cook until al dente.
• At the same time, heat another medium pot of boiling water to blanch the green veggies. When the water is boiling, add the veggies and cook for one minute. At the end of one minute, plunge the veggies into cold water to stop the cooking process.

Put it all together

• When the pasta is ready, drain well. In the same pot the pasta cooked, heat the sauce and half the vegetables on medium heat. Stir occasionally.
• When sauce is heated add the pasta and toss to coat the noodles. Serve up and add the remaining vegetables on top.

Tips

• For maximum authentic presentation, serve up your Peruvian green spaghetti with linguine noodles and don’t forget to add some hot sauce, Peruvians like it spicy!
• Full fat canned coconut milk is the best option for a creamier sauce. Other plant-based milks may work, but the sauce might not be quite as creamy and missing a bit of the fatty mouth feel.
• Use fresh spinach. Frozen spinach may seem like an easy shortcut you can take when making tallarines verdes, but honestly the fresh spinach is less work and tastes better too!