Creamy Spinach Pesto Pasta
Pesto pasta is a solid quick and easy weeknight meal that never fails me but sometimes I feel the need to have a boost of greens so I created this pasta dish based on the pesto flavour but using a spinach based sauce.
Instead of using a store bought pesto which is often not vegan and full of extra ingredients I just use a few ingredients to make my own.
This creamy pesto pasta dish comes together in 15 minutes or less doesn’t include any chopping and only uses a saucepan, blender and a strainer. So its perfect when you don’t have time or effort required to make a fancy meal and do tonnes of washing up.
All it takes is four simple steps- blanch the greens in boiling water, add to a blender with the rest of the sauce ingredients, boil the pasta in the spinach water and mix together.
For an added extra protein boost I sometimes like to add some cooked plant based chicken on top.
Make a big batch and take it for lunch the next day. Easy, delicious and healthy!
Spinach pesto pasta ingredients and substitutes-
- Fusilli- The cheap and cheerful fusilli is the perfect vessel for this sauce, the spiral shape allows for the whole pasta piece to be covered in the sauce.
- Cashew nuts- Cashews are an amazing ingredient that bring a beautiful plant based creaminess to a dish without adding artificial cream. I use these in place of pine nuts also as they are cheaper than pine nuts.
- Basil- A small amount of basil will give this pasta that classic pesto flavour but combined with spinach the strong basil flavour will be weaker for those that find that basil can be overpowering.
- Spinach- Fresh or frozen spinach are both fine here, just be sure to squeeze out excess water from frozen spinach.
- Garlic- I used fresh garlic you could also use garlic granules
Some more popular pasta recipes from the blog
Easy pasta sauce
A low effort pasta sauce is always a winner. This sauce only requires the greens to be blanched for 30 seconds then to blitz everything in a high speed blender - less than the time it takes to cook the pasta itself but so full of flavor.
Making a smooth pasta sauce
To get a lump free smooth pasta sauce a high speed blender is essential – I use THIS ninja blender to make mine perfect.
How to make spinach pesto pasta
- Blanch greens for 30 seconds
- Remove from water
- Add sauce ingredients to the blender
- Blend the pasta sauce
- Boil the pasta in the spinach water
- Add the sauce to the pasta
- Mix well
- Serve topped with cheese
Creamy Spinach and Basil Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 320 g fusilli pasta
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 Garlic cloves
- 80 g cashew nuts
- 50 g fresh basil
- 250 g fresh spinach
- 50 g vegan parmesan + more for topping
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the spinach and basil to blanch for 30 seconds.
- Remove the greens and set aside then add the dry pasta to the water and boil until cooked.
- Add all of the sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Drain the pasta and add in the sauce.
- Mix really well ensuring all of the pasta is coated with the sauce.
- Serve up with plenty of vegan parmesan on top and enjoy!
Some more popular pasta recipes from the blog
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