Pesto originated in Genoa, Italy. That original recipe is made of basil, garlic, olive oil and pine nuts but there are many great ingredients to jazz up your pesto sauce your own way. Just like in this recipe, I used spinach as the base of my pesto and just added a few leaves of basil and swapped the pine nuts to pistachio. It tastes fab! 

Mixed with freshly cooked linguine, cherry tomatoes and crunchy toasted pumpkin seeds, it quickly became a new superstar of my vegan repertoire. 

I also added a little bit of fresh chili pepper but leave that out if you prefer a not spicy version.

Spinach Pesto Pasta - Filthy Fit recipe

Serves 4 people.

Ingredients:

300 g linguine pasta

200 g cherry tomatoes

200 g baby spinach

1 chili pepper – finely chopped

50 g pumpkin seeds

2 tbsp olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper


For the pesto:

100 g baby spinach

20 g fresh basil

110 ml olive oil

1 clove garlic

Pinch of sea salt & black pepper

10 pistachio kernels


Method:

Prepare a large pot of hot water over high heat to cook the pasta.

Add the ingredients for the pesto to a food processor or blender and mix until smooth (about 2-3 minutes).

Chop the chili pepper in small pieces and the cherry tomatoes in quarters. 

In a bigger pan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the pumpkin seeds and toast them for 2-3 minutes turning frequently. Add the chili and cook for a further 1 minute.

Add the spinach leaves to the pan gradually, always just a handful at a time and cook until wilted. 

Add the tomatoes, season with a pinch of salt and pepper and cook for 2 more minutes. 

When the pasta is ready, drain in a colander.

In a large bowl mix the pasta with the pesto then the spinach-tomato mixture as well. 

Spinach Pesto Pasta - Filthy Fit recipe

Comments

0 comments

Write a comment