Spinach & Herbed Pesto Pasta
Pasta sans protein doesn’t have to be dull! Fall in love with this plant-based pasta.
Serves: 4
Time: 15 minutes
Recipe by: Nicole Snelling
Ingredients:
500g Whole wheat pasta of your choice, cooked
1/3 Cup Sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/3 Cup black olives, piped and roughly chopped
¼ Cup pine nuts, toasted
Pesto:
4 Cups baby spinach
1 Cup wild rocket
20g fresh parsley
20g fresh basil
¼ Cup olive oil or blended olive oil
¼ Cup finely grated vegan hard cheese
Squeeze of lemon juice
salt and pepper, to taste
Method:
To make the pesto, place all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Pour the pesto over the cooked warm pasta and toss through until all the pasta has been coated. Add some reserved pasta water to loosen up the pasta. Add the chopped sundried tomatoes and olives and toss through.
Garnish with some grated vegan hard cheese and toasted pine nuts before serving.
Chefs Tip: Reserve some of your pasta water for final cooking of the pasta dish.
If you don’t have pine nuts, replace them with toasted cashew nuts or sunflower seeds.
Add a dash of water to the pesto to loosen it up if you find it to be too thick.