Put aside your marinara and cream for a moment by introducing salsa verde to your pasta sauce rotation. With basil leaves, pine nuts, rocket and lemons, you can expect very fresh flavours in this vegetarian spaghetti recipe, which only becomes heartier with additions of cannellini beans and cheese.
Yield: Serves 4
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Difficulty Level: 2/5
Ingredients
- 2 medium lemons (280 g)
- 500 g spaghetti
- ½ cup (75 g) roasted unsalted cashews
- ⅓ cup (50 g) roasted pine nuts
- 1 cup firmly packed basil leaves
- 120 rocket leaves
- 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
- 1¼ cups (310 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 400 g can cannellini beans, drained, rinsed
- ⅔ cup (50 g) finely grated vegetarian parmesan-style cheese
Steps
01. Finely grate rind from 1 lemon. Squeeze the juice from both lemons; you will need ¼ cup juice.
02. Cook spaghetti in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 8 mins or until just tender; drain. Return to pan to keep warm.
03. Meanwhile, to make salsa verde, blend or process cashews, pine nuts, basil, half the rocket, the lemon juice, salt and 1 cup of the oil until almost smooth. Season to taste.
04. Heat remaining oil in a large, deep frying pan over high heat, add beans, salsa verde, pasta and grated lemon rind; season, toss until heated through.
05. Top spaghetti with remaining rocket and the cheese.
TIP
The lemon juice in the salsa verde will discolour it quickly, so use it immediately. If you wish to make it ahead without the juice, cover it tightly then stir in the lemon juice just before serving.
Photo: bauersyndication.com.au