Lemon Parsley Pesto Pasta
This recipe will heavily rely your preference. You can choose your favorite pasta, you can choose how much pesto to add to your pasta, and you can choose whether or not to add a protein to it. I personally enjoy my spaghetti pasta with a healthy amount of the pesto and some crispy seared chicken breast, and it was delicious! I made one meal out of the pesto and froze the rest to be used another day.
Now, I know that when you see pesto, you think basil and pine nuts. That doesn't have to be the case! I'm only now beginning to be able to stand the taste basil, so I made this using one of my personal favorite herbs- parsley. I used walnuts instead of pine nuts and a sunflower oil for a little flavor enhancement. I hope you enjoy this and share with me your ways of using the pesto. Enjoy.
Lemon Parsley Pesto Pasta
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
1 cup walnuts
1 1/4 cup oil of choice
6-8 stalks green onion, roughly chopped
1 bunch parsley, roughly chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3-4 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of crushed red chili flakes
Pasta of choice
Grilled or oven baked chicken breast (optional)*
Directions:
1. In the bowl of your food processor or blender, place the walnuts, oil, green onion, parsley, Parmesan cheese, garlic, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Blend until a smooth pesto forms (you may need to add more oil if it is too thick). Taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper as needed; you may also want to add a little lemon juice for some acidity, if needed.
2. Cook your pasta of choice according to the box instructions. Reserve a cup of pasta liquid for later. Drain pasta. While the pasta is still hot, mix in the pesto (as much or as little as you like). You can add a little pasta water to loosen the pasta if you don't want to add more pesto. Serve with chicken breast or on it's own and garnish with more grated Parmesan cheese, if desired. Enjoy.
*This would also be great with seared tofu to keep the dish vegetarian.
All content is my own unless otherwise stated