Tuesday 21 August 2018

Super Green Vegan Pesto

Post holiday food vegan week continues.

Tonight I have veganised Jamie Oliver's Super Green Spaghetti by substituting cheese with cashew nuts.  I made three versions, one with a bag of baby spinach leaves, one with the lush radish tops from our vegbox, and a final version to freeze with the leafy beetroot stalks from the same vegbox.

Unlike Jamie Oliver's recipe, I no longer blanch the garlic as I find it loses it's flavour.  Instead I use half the quantity but add it raw to the blender jug as I think it gives the sauce a depth of flavour that cheese would have done in the non-vegan version.

Serves 2 as a main dish

200g dried pasta
200g spinach, chard, beetroot tops, radish tops, or turnip tops
30g cashew nuts
1 small clove of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste

Weigh the cashews in a mug and cover with boiling water.

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.  At the end of the cooking time wilt the greens in the pan with the boiling pasta then fish out and put to a blender jug.

Drain the pasta, reserving about half a mug of the cooking water.  When drained put back in the saucepan and stir through a slug of olive oil.  Drain the cashews and add these to the greens, together with the garlic, tablespoon of olive oil, and a large pinch of salt.  Liquidise the sauce, adding a little reserved water if it is a little thick.  You want it to be the consistency of double cream.

Scrape all the sauce onto the pasta and mix thoroughly, again adding more water if you want a looser sauce.
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