Pea pesto pasta salad base
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 4
White fish, chicken or smoked tofu would be a great addition to turn this quick, nutritious pasta salad into a filling main meal. Use whatever pasta you prefer, but wholewheat adds extra fibre and a lovely nutty flavour.
Ingredients
- 100g/3½oz curly kale, tough central stalk removed and leaves roughly chopped
- 100g/3½oz frozen peas, defrosted
- 50g/1¾oz toasted nuts of your choice
- 40g/1½oz strong hard cheese, such as cheddar, grated
- 1 garlic clove
- 50ml/1¾fl oz extra virgin olive oil
- 300g/10½oz wholewheat fusilli, cooked according to packet instructions
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Tip in half the kale and half the peas and boil for 1 minute.
Use a sieve or slotted spoon to transfer the vegetables to a food processor. Reserve the cooking water.
Add the nuts, cheese, garlic and oil to the food processor and season well with salt and pepper. Pulse until a rough pesto forms, then taste to check the seasoning.
Return the water to the boil. Cook the fusilli for 1 minute less than packet instructions (this is usually 10–12 minutes). Add the remaining vegetables to the pan and cook for another minute.
Drain well, then stir the pesto through the pasta and vegetable mixture while it's still warm.
Allow to cool to room temperature, then transfer to an airtight container, cover and keep in the fridge for 3–5 days.
Recipe tips
If you like a bit of acidity, you could add a squeeze of lemon to the pesto.
Any green vegetables can add texture and freshness to this salad. Blanched green beans, asparagus spears or even aromatic soft herbs like basil, mint or parsley all work well.
Pick whichever nuts you like best or are cheapest in the supermarket. You can often find bags of mixed roasted nuts at a good price, but make sure they are plain roasted nuts from the ingredients aisle, not the coated dry roasted nuts you get in snack bags.
