Best Vegan Kale Pesto Pasta Recipes

VEGAN PESTO PASTA WITH KALE

Steps:

• 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.
• 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.
• Adjust the seasoning to your taste.
• Boil a large pot of water and cook your pasta al dente or to your liking.
• 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!
• Drain your pasta and toss it in some pesto, mix the veggies in and serve.
• 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.

FRESH VEGAN KALE PESTO PASTA

Steps:

• Begin by making the pesto. Remove the tender kale from the stems, set the stems aside or compost them. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and blanch the kale for a few seconds, or until the kale is bright green. Set the kale aside to cool.
• Once the kale is cool, squeeze the water out so that the kale leaves are nice and dry. Add the kale, hemp hearts, oil, garlic, yeast, water, lemon juice and sea salt in a food processor. Puree until well combined and no large leaves of kale remain.
• Get the pasta on, cooking as required.
• Next, heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add a few tsp. of cooking oil along with the broccoli. Toss the broccoli so that you get some charred areas. Add a few tbsp. of water if the broccoli starts to stick. Continue to cook, string often, until the broccoli is tender, but not mushy, about 8 minutes.
• Once the broccoli is cooked, add the rinsed chickpeas and toss until they are warmed.
• Drain the pasta and combine in the frying pan along with the broccoli and pesto. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
• Top with hemp hearts, chili flakes, or grated brazil nuts.

VEGAN KALE PESTO PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a pan of water to the boil. Cook the kale for 30 secs, drain and transfer to a bowl of ice-cold water for 5 mins. Drain again and pat dry with kitchen paper.
• Put the basil, garlic, seeds, oil, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and zest, and drained kale in a food processor. Blitz until smooth, then season. Loosen with a splash of water, if it's too thick.
• Cook the pasta following pack instructions, then toss with the pesto and serve.

VEGAN KALE-PESTO PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the kale ribs and stems, cashews and basil stems. Boil for 10 minutes, then add the kale leaves and cook until tender but not mushy, another 5 minutes. Add the basil leaves and stir just to submerge. Turn off the heat, then use a slotted spoon to transfer everything but the cooking liquid to a blender. (Don't drain the pot; you'll use that water to cook the pasta.) Set the blender aside to cool slightly.
• Meanwhile, return the pot of water to a boil; add more water if a lot evaporated in Step 1. Add the pasta and cook until tender (or according to box directions).
• To the blender, add ½ cup water, the garlic and the red-pepper flakes. Blend on high until very smooth. Season to taste with salt.
• Reserve 1 cup pasta water, then drain the pasta. Return the pasta to the pot and add the green sauce. Stir vigorously to combine, adding pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce and help it cling to the noodles. (Sauce will thicken as it cools.) Add the lemon juice, season to taste with salt and red-pepper flakes, and eat right away.