This is a quick, easy and delicious pasta dish that’s perfect for a weeknight dinner. Try other pasta shapes or zucchini noodles for something different.
This recipe makes up to two extra jars of pesto for use during the week. Great to use it in dips, salad dressings, soups, egg dishes, lasagna, marinade for chicken or fish.
TIP Cook the pasta ahead of time and drizzle with olive oil. Gently stir to coat, cover and set aside until you are ready to mix in the pesto. This is a vegan friendly recipe, if you omit the cheese. To make the dish a little heartier you can add bite sized cooked prawns or chicken when you add in the pesto.
NOTE You can make the pesto up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate until needed. Store any extra pesto in jars and add olive oil on top to minimise oxidation! Alternatively, freeze in ice cube trays for later use.
Notes
Photo taken by Holly Kent.
Ingredients
- Pasta Ingredients
- 500g macaroni or penne (or your favourite pasta)
- Water
- Sea salt
- 1 tbsp olive (for cooking pasta)
- Pesto Ingredients
- 2 cup almonds (or other nuts and/or seeds)
- 2 cups parsley leaves (packed)
- 1 cup basil leaves (packed)
- 2 – 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- ¾ - 1 cup olive oil
- 1 – 2 tbsp lemon juice (optional)
- 3 – 5 drops lemon oil
- 1 – 2 drop basil oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (for a vegan option, ½ cup nutritional yeast flakes) (optional)
- For Finishing the Dish & Serving
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 – 2 small zucchinis, thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Sea salt
- Pepper
- Fresh basil and/or parsley leaves
- Grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Pesto Instructions
- 1. In a food processor, coarsely chop the almonds/nuts/seeds.
- 2. Add half of the parsley and basil leaves and pulse a few times.
- 3. Then add the rest of the pesto ingredients (except Parmesan cheese) pulse again, stopping occasionally to push down the sides and until well blended. If the mixture is too thick, add a little more olive oil or a little water and continue mixing until smooth or leave the pesto a little chunky, if you like.
- Pasta Instructions
- 1. Fill a large pot three quarters full with water.
- 2. Add 1 tsp sea salt and 1 tbsp olive oil, bring to a boil.
- 3. Add in the pasta, stir well and cook according to the directions. Stir occasionally and continue cooking until the pasta is cooked to your liking.
- 4. When the pasta is done reserve approx. 1 cup of the cooking liquid remove from heat and strain. Toss the pasta with olive oil to coat and set aside until you are ready to finish the dish.
- Finishing
- 1. In a large sauté pan or pot on medium-heat add olive oil and sauté the zucchini, peas and garlic for 1 – 2 minutes stirring often.
- 2. Add in the cooked pasta and stir in some of the pesto (approx. 1 cup or more, if you like).
- 3. Then add in approx. ½ cup of the reserved pasta cooking liquid, basil leaves and gently stir continually for 3 – 4 minutes until the pasta is well coated with the pesto and heated through. Add a little more cooking liquid to make the sauce creamier.
- 4. Remove from heat and place in a serving bowl, platter or serve individually, top with Parmesan cheese (optional). Leftover pasta can be refrigerated for up to 4 days and gently reheated or serve chilled.
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