Pasta With Homemade Pesto
Pesto pasta is the go-to recipe for a filling meat-free dinner. The pasta and pesto are ready in a flash so if you're short on time just fry up some tomatoes to finish off the dish. If you've got longer, throw whatever vegetables you have to hand into a roasting dish with a bit of oil and a pinch of salt, the perfect way to use up any end of the week veg box leftovers.
Serves [6]
Ingredients
For the pesto
1 garlic clove, skin removed
100 grams parmesan cheese (or vegetarian/vegan alternative)
30 grams of pine nuts (can be substituted for hazelnuts, walnuts or any other nut you have in the cupboard)
1 teaspoon black pepper
bunch of paisley (or basil)
40 millilitres of olive oil
For the pasta
4-5 peppers of any colour, de-seeded
1 courgette
1 aubergine
250 grams tomatoes
30 millilitres of rapeseed oil
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cracked pepper
800 grams whole wheat pasta
20 grams rocket
10 grams fresh basil
Method
Preheat oven to 200C. (If you're short on time fry some tomatoes in a pan and skip down to step 3.)
Quarter the peppers, slice the courgettes on an angle and slice the aubergines. Put all the vegetables in a roasting tray with a drizzle of oil and pinch of salt. Roast your veg in the hot oven for around 50 minutes.
Whilst the vegetables are in the oven get started on the pesto: place the pine nuts, garlic, parmesan, pepper, parsley and oil in a food processor and blitz to a paste.
When the vegetables are looking soft, golden and cooked through remove from the oven. At this point cook the pasta in a pan of boiling water for 6 minutes, then drain.
Cut the cooled vegetables into square pieces.
Return the cooked pasta to the pan, add the vegetables, pesto and rocket.
Stir and gently heat to warm through.
Portion and serve topped with basil and any leftover parmesan.