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Recipes

Pasta with vegan broccoli pesto

Quick and easy and healthy suppertime staple

January 21, 2022 12:31
vegan kids - pasta green pesto (40)
1 min read

Cook: 15 minutes

Serves: 4

This vivid green pesto offers a change in flavour to the more traditional sauce (ingredients below) as it includes lots of broccoli as well as the fresh basil, and toasted cashew nuts are used instead of pine nuts; walnuts also work well! Most dried pasta is egg-free, but it is always worth checking the packet to be sure.

Method:

  • Put the broccoli in a pan of boiling salted water and cook for 5 minutes or until just tender. Drain really well and leave to cool. 

  • Meanwhile, toast the nuts. Put them in a heavy frying pan and heat until they are beginning to turn golden. Alternatively, spread them out on a baking sheet and cook at 200ºC for 5 minutes, until golden. 

Ingredients

400g dried pasta 

For the green pesto: 

250g broccoli florets 

125g cashew nuts 

Leaves from a large bunch of basil, about 40g 

2 garlic cloves, peeled 

50g vegan hard cheese, grated, plus extra to serve if you like 

2 tbsp nutritional yeast 

About 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 

Salt and ground black pepper

Sprigs of fresh basil, to garnish