I cannot stress enough how amazingly tasty this spaghetti is!!!
I have to confess that I have a pretty weird relation with spaghettis. I love pastas and have a pretty healthy relation with most of them… except spaghettis. When I was a kid, I was always asking for my spaghetti sauce to be in a separate bowl, and would eat my spaghettis with butter and parmesan. I ate all other pastas with the sauce directly topped on, but it was just impossible for me to tolerate sauce over (or even in the same plate as) spaghetti. I had to eat them separately. For me, they just didn’t belong together. Even if my mother was doing the best spag sauce in the world, I just didn’t like the way it felt on spaghetti. Weird, I know.
Despite this trauma (hehe!) I decided to give today’s spaghetti recipe from The Gourmet Vegan a try. Well, this was just an incredible harmony in my mouth. I just never, never had such a good spaghetti. And the pesto sauce just felt so right on those pastas! Maybe it’s related to the fact I cooked this recipe with gluten free rice pastas… Maybe that’s where the magic comes from to me… Well, it works for me and I’ll keep doing it again and again. Thanks to the Gourmet Vegan for having me reconcile with the most popular pasta of all! I’ve made some tiny chances from the Gourmet Vegan recipe but it’s pretty much the same.
The spinach and walnut pesto is totally yummy and I really enjoy the fact that it is a lot less expansive than the regular basil/pine nuts/parmesan pesto.
Ingredients :
For the pesto :
- 100 g ( 4 oz ) fresh spinach
- 40 g ( 1.5 oz ) toasted walnuts
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 large clove garlic
- 1/4 cup groundnut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
For the spaghetti :
- 150-200 g ( 6-7 oz ) of spaghettis (I used rice spaghettis)
- 10 tbsp of the water kept from the spaghetti cooking
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 1 orange bell pepper, chopped
- 1 handful green beans, sliced and chopped
- 120 g ( 5 oz ) tinned or freshly cooked chickpeas
- 2 tbsp capers (or chopped olives)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
- 1 tsp chili flakes (optional)
- 1 large tomato (or 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes) chopped
- 30 g ( 1 oz ) fresh spinach leaves
- Handful of fresh rocket leaves or any mixed greens
Instructions :
Prepare the pesto by putting all the pesto ingredients in a food processor and mix them until you reach the desired texture.
While the pastas are cooking, cook the vegetables in a pig pan. Bring the coconut oil to medium heat and cook the onions, green beans and bell pepper for 5 minutes.
Add the spices and chickpeas to the pan, plus 10 tbsp of water from the pasta’s cauldron and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes, until vegetables looks cooked but still a little bit crunchy.
Add the pesto to the vegetable mixture and let it heat for a minute. When you are ready to serve, add in the pastas, the tomato, the capers and the spinach. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, if you want to.
Serve on plates or bowls and garnish with aragula (or mixed greens).
Veggie Pawa! 