This Superfood Pesto Pasta recipe tastes just like a regular pesto with sneaky vegetables such as kale and zucchini that you can't even taste!
I love pesto whether its on pasta, as a spread in a sandwich, or even on pizza! So I've created a Superfood Pesto Pasta which not only tastes like regular pesto, it has extra sneaky greens and goodies that you can't even taste!
Its perfect for those days when you know you need to eat more vegetables so it’s a great way to have them in a dish, also works well for kids as it tastes like regular pesto pasta.
Ingredients to Make Superfood Pesto Pasta
By adding kale and zucchini, we’ve added 2 veggies to our pesto alongside some walnuts which are also a superfood full of nutrients. The remaining ingredients are all in a standard pesto with basil being the most pronounced flavour.
By cooking the kale and zucchini before blending together, this eliminates any bitter taste and assists the pesto with its gorgeous green colour. I always find it tastes best when these veggies are blended smoothly with some of the pasta water as stage 1 of the pesto before adding the remaining pesto ingredients. That way you can leave some texture and not over-blend the basil and walnuts.
Important Tips
- By cooking the kale and zucchini before blending together, eliminates any bitter taste
- I always find it tastes best when these veggies are blended smooth with some of the pasta water as stage 1 of the pesto before adding the remaining pesto ingredients. That way you can leave some texture and not over blend the basil and walnuts.
- As I always say, don’t forget to save some pasta water! Once the pasta is cooked to al dente, add to your pan, pour over the pesto with a splash of pasta water. Let it cook together for a minute to ensure the beautiful flavours of the pesto cover all parts of your pasta. The pasta water is the glue that marries your sauce and pasta together.
Serve and enjoy your bowl of pasta with a sprinkle of additional cheese if preferred.
More Pasta Recipes
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Recipe
Superfood Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 360 g pasta (I've used Farfalle)
- 60 g kale leaves
- 30 g basil leaves
- 1 zucchini
- 3 garlic cloves
- 30 g walnuts
- 30 g parmigiano-reggiano or vegan substitute
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ lemon juice squeezed
Instructions
- Chop garlic into cubes and zucchini into slices.
- Sauté garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until golden on a medium heat.
- Once golden, add the zucchini, season with salt and let it sauté together.
- At the same time, boil water in a pasta pot, don’t forget to heavily salt the pasta water. Add the kales leaves and let them blanch for approx. 2 minutes, remove from the water once they’ve wilted.
- Add a splash of the boiling water to the zucchini and let it simmer down until it has softened, then turn the heat off.
- Start to cook pasta in the same boiling water.
- In a food processor or blender, add the wilted kale, zucchini, garlic, splash of pasta water and blend until smooth.
- Now add basil, walnuts, cheese , lemon juice, remaining olive oil, pinch of salt, along with another splash of pasta water to a blender and blitz. Blend together until combined, a little texture is ok with the pesto but you want it to be a nice thick creamy consistency. If it's too thick, add a splash more of the pasta water.
- When pasta is cooked to al dente, drain into the same pan where the zucchini was sautéed. Don’t forget to save some of the pasta water!
- Pour over the pesto, add a splash of pasta water and let it cook together for a minute so that the pasta is nicely covered with your pesto.
- Serve and enjoy your pasta full of superfoods and sneaky veggies 🙂
Notes
- If you have any left over pesto, you can freeze it for a future use
Kaitlin
This is sooo good!!! Made this for my mom and she loved it!!
Ayeh
Yay so happy your mama loved it xx