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Lazy Cat Kitchen

A food blog with plant-based recipes from all over the world

Vegan pesto pasta with kale

April 3, 2018 by Ania - 18

comfort food, easy, gluten-free, Italiango to recipe

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vegan pesto pasta bowl

Hope you guys enjoyed the Easter long weekend? We had grand plans of going hiking somewhere around Bristol, combined with having a picnic and a cake for Duncan’s upcoming birthday, but the weather had other plans…

Plus we decided not to push it as we have both been feeling a bit off colour lately. Nothing major, but I woke up with a sore throat on Saturday and Duncan is having a bit of trouble with his sinuses, so we decided that trudging in the rain is probably not the brightest idea. Especially that we are going away to Devon for Duncan’s b’day next weekend and being ill is not part of the plan.

We’ve decided to help our immune systems by doing some more gentle yoga, quitting sugar completely (I make it sound like that’s no big deal, but I have been craving chocolate SO MUCH, especially with my afternoon coffee) and consuming insane quantities of fresh ginger tea. It seems to be working as I am already feeling much better, so much so that I’m considering going running again tomorrow.

As I was overly enthusiastic in the veg aisle again, I ended up with tons of kale in my fridge. I wasn’t in the mood for a smoothie so I decided to make a quick lemony pesto out of it instead. I stirred it through some wholemeal pasta and added lots of green veggies to it to turn it into a spring-inspired dish. If you want this dish to be extra quick, don’t bother cooking the zucchini or asparagus as they can be both eaten raw, just slice them both very thinly (a speed peeler is your friend here) and add them to the pasta as they are. You’ll end up with less process and a welcome nutritional boost.

PS: If you do make my vegan pesto pasta with kale, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram (#lazycatkitchen). I love seeing your take on my recipes.

vegan pesto pasta food processor

vegan pesto in a jar

vegan pesto pasta lunch

5.00 from 4 votes
Print
  • serves: 4
  • prep: 20 min
  • cooking: 10 min

Ingredients

PESTO (makes about 240 ml / 1 cup)

  • 70 g / ½ cup almonds (hemp seeds or sunflower seeds for nut allergies)
  • 100 g / 3.5 oz kale (I used Lacinato kale)
  • 25 g / 0.9 oz fresh basil
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 unwaxed lemon, zest and juice
  • black pepper, to taste
  • ¾ tsp salt, more to taste
  • 3 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
  • 120 ml / ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

OTHER INGREDIENTS

  • 360 g / 13 oz tortiglioni, rigatoni or penne (GF if needed)
  • 100 g / 3.5 oz green peas (fresh or frozen)
  • 2 courgettes / baby zucchini, sliced thinly
  • 200 g / 7 oz asparagus, chopped into small pieces
  • 1 tbsp / 15 ml oil (optional, if stir-frying vegetables)
  • hemp seeds (optional)
  • nutritional yeast (optional)
  • a pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

Method

  1. Roast the almonds in a hot pan until golden and fragrant. You could also do it in an oven (180° C / 355° F) for about 10 minutes – start checking on them towards the end of the baking time as they can go from toasted to burnt in a matter of seconds. Allow the almonds to cool down completely before blending in the pesto.
  2. Place all the pesto ingredients apart from the olive oil into a food processor. I used 4 tbsp / ¼ cup of lemon juice in my pesto, but I like things to be lemony so you may want to adjust the amount to your taste. Process until chopped small and then start trickling in olive oil while the motor is going.
  3. Adjust the seasoning to your taste.
  4. Boil a large pot of water and cook your pasta al dente or to your liking.
  5. Prepare the vegetables by either boiling them, steaming or stir-frying quickly. I boiled the peas for 2 minutes and then plunged them in ice-cold water to preserve their beautiful colour and stir-fried the zucchini and asparagus in a hot wok for 2 minutes. You could also eat both the zucchini and asparagus raw (slice the zucchini thinly and shave the asparagus with a speed peeler) if you would like to incorporate some untampered nutrition into this dish!
  6. Drain your pasta and toss it in some pesto, mix the veggies in and serve.
  7. For the topping, mix the hemp seeds with nutritional yeast (1:1 ratio) in a small bowl for a quick vegan parmesan. Give each portion a squeeze of lemon and a light sprinkle of chilli flakes (I used fine Korean chilli flakes) if you wish.
If you want more info on some of the ingredients that we use in our recipes, check out our glossary.
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This recipe has been written by Ania. She is the cook, stylist and photographer behind Lazy Cat Kitchen. You can read about her journey into food blogging here. You can also check her out on Pinterest and Instagram.

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    Comments

    Leave a comment

  1. Megan says

    April 3, 2018 at 1:33 pm

    I was literally JUST thinking about making pesto pasta when I got the notification! Excited to try this tonight, your blog is my go-to 🙂

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 3, 2018 at 1:50 pm

      Yay! Sounds like a it was meant to be 😉 Hope you’ll enjoy it! Ania

      Reply
  2. emma says

    April 7, 2018 at 3:10 pm

    This was delicious!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 10, 2018 at 8:06 pm

      I’m delighted to hear that, Emma! Ania

      Reply
  3. Chrysan says

    April 8, 2018 at 12:51 am

    I made the kale pesto pasta today! I used GF chickpea pasta.
    I went vegan 2 months ago,in fact,it’s GF,DF,and soy free! — I took the plunge (:
    Thanks so much for the recipe! It was delicious!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 10, 2018 at 8:07 pm

      I’m delighted to hear that you enjoyed it, Chrysan! Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback and all the best on your vegan journey!! Ania

      Reply
  4. Caitlin says

    April 18, 2018 at 3:18 am

    This was delicious and had a cheesy flavor which I loved. I will definitely make again!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 18, 2018 at 10:37 am

      Thanks, Caitlin! I’m chuffed to hear that you enjoyed it so much! Ania

      Reply
  5. Terri Edwards says

    May 3, 2018 at 12:05 am

    This looks delicious! Any thoughts about how it would do if I leave out the olive oil? Thanks so much for the recipe.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      May 3, 2018 at 12:38 am

      Sure, how about using a ripe avocado thinned with a little water. Hope that helps! Ania

      Reply
  6. Laura says

    May 18, 2018 at 6:33 pm

    This looks absolutely delicious and we have just put peas, green beans and courgettes in at the allotment so I will trying this when they’re ready! Does the pesto freeze week…..just thinking about the inevitable courgette glut!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      May 19, 2018 at 12:50 am

      Hi Laura,

      Yes, it freezes fine, but you could also just top it with extra layer of olive oil and store in the fridge for a long time (a few months even) – olive oil stops the pesto from getting mouldy. Hope that helps! Ania

      Reply
  7. razieh says

    December 17, 2018 at 2:41 pm

    Hi, thanks for the recipe.
    Can I use broccoli instead of kale?!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      December 17, 2018 at 4:56 pm

      I suppose so but you may need to blanch it first maybe…I haven’t tried. Ania

      Reply
  8. Mattea says

    September 26, 2020 at 11:28 pm

    This is an excellent recipe. So tasty and fresh and healthy and lemony.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      September 27, 2020 at 7:52 pm

      I’m so happy to hear that. Thank you so much for letting me know that you enjoyed it. Ania

      Reply
  9. Rabbit says

    January 14, 2021 at 8:37 am

    Hi..I can’t seem to print your wonderful receipe. I clink print and nothing happens?

    Reply
    • Ania says

      January 14, 2021 at 3:23 pm

      Hi,

      I am sorry to hear that, I’ve just tested it and it works fine for me. Perhaps that’s the settings of your browser? It should launch a new window, followed by a printer dialogue box. Ania

      Reply

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Ania Marcinowska
Hi, I'm Ania. I love good food but I love animals more! Adopting a plant-based diet has been the best decision I've made and that's how this blog was born. It's a space where I want to show you that creating delicious plant-based food isn't actually hard at all.
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