Fresh, light and creamy roasted courgette pesto pasta is the ultimate summery pasta dish!
Packed with seasonal courgettes, spinach, basil and toasted pine nuts. The courgettes get roasted until soft and golden which make for a really creamy sauce, without cream!
Whether it’s spaghetti, penne or fusilli this sauce will take your pasta to the next level. It’s zingy, fresh, flavourful and obviously vegan!
I went for casarecce pasta which is great with pesto sauces, it clings to the ridges making sure every piece of pasta has a good helping of sauce!
I love adding roasted veggies to pasta, or any meal, I nearly always add them in some way. Just recently I thought of blending roasted courgettes and now I am obsessed with it!
When the courgettes are roasted they turn golden and soft they have an amazing creaminess to them.
All you need to do is cut them into semi circle slices, drizzle with oil salt and pepper and roast for 15 minutes.
Whilst they’re roasting you can toast your pine nuts, either in a dry pan or in the oven for a few minutes.
The roasted courgettes are then ready to go in a food processor. Along with toasted pine nuts, spinach, basil, lemon, garlic, vegan parmesan, olive oil and salt and pepper.
I like to blitz mine in the food processor until creamy but not completely blended, so you can still see specs of the courgette.
When the pasta is almost ready, scoop out 1/4 cup of the pasta water which your going to add to the drained pasta and pesto. It adds extra creaminess and silkiness to any sauce.
I hope this recipe makes you excited for courgette/zuchinni season! It’s one of my favourite veggies and I can’t wait to incorporate it into more recipes!
For more vegan pasta recipes you may enjoy these:
Roasted red pepper and sundried tomato pasta
Butternut squash carbonara with coconut bacon
As always if you make this roasted courgette pesto pasta be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!
Don’t forget to follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram – I’d love to see you all there!
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Roasted Courgette Pesto Pasta
Roasted courgettes are blended into a creamy, fresh pesto sauce. Along with spinach, basil, toasted pine nuts and vegan parmesan. It's the perfect summer pasta!
Ingredients
- 2 medium/large courgettes
- 50g pine nuts
- 2 handfuls spinach
- 2 garlic cloves
- Juice of half a lemon (~2 tbsp)
- 1 heaped tbsp vegan soft cheese
- 1/4 cup/3 tbsp vegan parmesan (or sub nutritional yeast)
- 1 cup loosely packed basil
- 1/4 cup/3 tbsp olive oil
- 400g pasta
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Cut courgettes in half lengthways and then cut into semi circle slices. Place on a baking sheet, toss in some olive oil, salt and pepper and place in the oven for around 15 minutes.
- Place pine nuts in a small dry frying pan on medium heat and toast for a few minutes until turning golden brown. Alternatively place in the oven for a few minutes.
- Cook pasta according to packet instructions.
- When the courgettes are golden brown, soft and starting to fall apart remove from the oven and place in a food processor with the pine nuts and remaining ingredients apart from the oil.
- Blitz until the nuts are blended and it resembles a pesto. Slowly pour in the olive oil whilst giving it a final blitz. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Once the pasta is done, scoop out 1/4 cup of pasta water. Drain pasta and add the pesto, mix and then add the pasta water. It should be nice and creamy and glossy.
- Serve and top with some extra parmesan!
Notes
I used casarecce pasta, but any will work!
Will make around 2 cups pesto.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 657Total Fat: 35gSaturated Fat: 6gUnsaturated Fat: 26gSodium: 528mgCarbohydrates: 64gFiber: 5gSugar: 13gProtein: 24g
Michelle lovecookinghome
Wednesday 1st of April 2020
Wow what a beautiful dish !! I love simple light recipes that are also easy to make. I made mine with less ingredients as it can be hard to find them in this difficult time but it turn out great! I sauteed the courgette with garlic on low heat so that they released a little water to make a sauce, then discarded the garlic , added salt and pepper, toasted pine nuts and finished off with fresh mint leaves. Something about fresh mint brings back my childhood. Thanks for the tips! https://lovecookinghome.com/minty-courgette-pasta-with-pinenuts/
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