Anything Green Vegan Pesto Pasta

July 25, 2024

A plate of pesto pasta on a yellow placemat with hazelnuts and parsley scattered around

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Pesto on pasta has always been a summer favorite of mine, and this versatile vegan version has quickly become my go to.

The Story

The Ingredients

Ingredients - herbs, hazelnuts, garlic, olive oil, pasta, salt

Notes -

Greens/herbs: I like to do one green (e.g. carrot tops, kale, spinach...) for bulk and at least one tender herb (e.g. parsley, basil, chives...) for flavor. My go-to combo for this recipe is carrot tops and parsley, but I think that anything that tastes good to you will be good here.

Nuts/seeds: I use hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, or almonds when I make this recipe but I bet it would be great with sunflower seeds, walnuts, pine nuts, pistachios, or cashews.

The Recipe

makes 4-6 portions

Ingredients

Pesto

About 3 cups packed greens/herbs SEE NOTE (140g)
1/3 cup nuts or seeds SEE NOTE (52g)
1/4 cup olive oil (50g), plus more for drizzling
3 TB nutritional yeast flakes (15g)
2 TB red miso (34g)
2 TB fresh lemon juice (25g)
2 small garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1-2 cups pasta cooking water

Pasta

1 lb pasta (454g)
Salt for the pasta water
Optional garnishes: more of the same toasted and chopped nuts/seeds, nutritional yeast, or (for a not-vegan option) grated hard cheese like parm or pecorino

To Make

1. Toast the nuts.

Preheat an oven or toaster oven to 350ºF/175ºC. Add the nuts/seeds to a baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden brown. The timing will vary depending on which type of nut/seed you are using and they will burn very easily, so keep a very close eye on these. Most things will take 4-8 minutes.

2. Blanch the greens.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a generous amount of salt. While the water boils, fill a large bowl with water and a lot of ice. Add the herbs to the water for 15-30 seconds until bright green and visibly softened. Remove herbs from the water with tongs or a spider and immediately plunge into the bowl of ice water, swirling with tongs or a spoon to separate any clumps.

Once the herbs are chilled all the way through, remove from the ice water and squeeze to drain as much water as possible. Give the herbs a rough chop.

3. Make the pasta.

Add the pasta to the same pot of boiling water and cook until al dente, usually a minute or two before the time indicated on the package. Save at least 1 1/2 cups of pasta water before draining and setting aside.

4. Make the pesto.

Add the blanched herbs, toasted nuts/seeds, olive oil, nutritional yeast, miso, lemon juice, and garlic cloves to a high-powered blender or food processor and blend. Stream in pasta water until a smooth, bright green sauce forms, usually about 3/4 cup - 1 1/2 cups of pasta water.

Pesto ingredients in the blender, pre-blending

4. Put it all together.

Add the pesto to the drained pasta, either in the pot it was cooked in or a giant bowl, and mix well. Add more pasta water until a creamy consistency is created. Don't be shy here, I use about 1 1/4 cup total of pasta water including what is already in the pesto. Taste the pasta and add more lemon juice or a pinch of salt if it needs a little something.