Pesto Brown Rice Pasta Recipe
I used to hate pesto. I'd screw my face up if I discovered it in a sandwich or if someone had snuck it into a pasta dish. I just couldn't eat it. Turns out it wasn't pesto I hated but just the shop bought pesto. It had such an artificial taste that just didn't do it for me. Fast forward ten years and here I am, putting pesto in everything and anything I can. The secret? Homemade.
This spinach and cashew pesto pasta is a really simple recipe that will be ready in less than 30 minutes!
It's my go-to lunch at the moment and the flavours are just perfect together.
I hope you like it as much as I do. Here are some reasons to fall in love with it:
Plant-based Filling Quick
Simple Protein-packed
Nutritious
Ingredients
For the pesto:
- 1 1/2 cups basil leaves
- 1 cup of spinach
- 1/4 cup soaked raw cashews
- 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1 lemon, juiced
- Pinch sea salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 cup olive oil
For the pasta:
- 8 oz pasta of choice. I say 8oz but really you can have as much or as little as you want because pasta amount is a really personal thing and I don't want to tell you how much pasta to eat. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life. Also, I opted for pea pasta which you can buy from most supermarkets now and adds an extra protein boost. Pea pasta and red lentil pasta are both now sold in Tesco, Waitrose and Sainsbury's and are packed with protein and are gluten free. Happy days! Another good option would be Buckwheat pasta which you can now buy in Aldi - it's gluten-free and it tastes seriously good. Would recommend rinsing it after cooking though so it doesn't clump together!
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 tbsps nutritional yeast
Method
1. Fill a large saucepan full of water and add a tsp of salt. Bring to the boil and add in the pasta.
2. Prepare the pesto by adding all of the ingredients to a food processor and mixing up. If it isn't mixing well than add in some more olive oil or a bit of water. Give it a taste and adjust as needed. If you want it a bit cheesy then add some nutritional yeast and if you need to brighten it up then pop in some more lemon juice.
3. Once the pasta is cooked, mix in the pesto sauce, add the olive oil, nutritional yeast and top with sundried tomatoes and maybe some homemade vegan parmesan if you're feeling real fancy. To make vegan parmesan all you have to do it blend 3/4 cup raw cashews, 3-4 tbsps nutritional yeast, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp garlic powder together until it creates a fine meal. Ta da! Two recipes for one in this blog post today. You lucky thing!
Love,
Em x
