DETOXIFYING CILANTRO-WALNUT PESTO WITH WHOLE WHEAT PASTA

DETOXIFYING CILANTRO-WALNUT PESTO WITH WHOLE WHEAT PASTA

vegan|high fibre|NUTS

YIELD: 2 adult servings of pasta + 10 servings pesto

PREP TIME: 35 mins
COOK TIME: 20 mins

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INGREDIENTS

• 150 g dry whole-wheat spaghetti

• 2 tsp sea salt, or until it tasteS like the sea

• 1 cup pasta water

• 3-4 Tbsp cilantro-walnut pesto 

PESTO

• 1 cup walnuts, soaked 6hrs or overnight

• 2 cups of cilantro, stemmed

• 1 garlic clove

• 2 Tbsp lemon juice

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil +

• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast

• 1/2 tsp himalayan pink salt, or to taste 

• 1/4 tsp black pepper, or to taste

TOPPINGS

• extra virgin olive oil 

• zest of 1/2 lemon 

• parmesan cheese, optional

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DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 175C. Toast walnuts for 10 minutes or until fragrant. Set aside to cool.

2. Bring a pot of water to boil for pasta, add sea salt. The water should taste like the sea.

3. Add 3/4 cup of the toasted walnuts to a small food processor, pulse a few times to begin grinding. Then  add all other ingredients except olive oil and blend until smooth. If the mixture gets stuck then add a little oil to help it move. Finally stream in the remaining olive oil. Let pesto sit for a little while for flavours to merge.

4. Cook pasta until al dente, drain.

5. Rough chop the remaining 1/4 cup walnuts.

6. Heat a pan over medium heat, add the pasta water, when almost boiling, add pasta. Spoon in pesto and swirl the pasta with tongs until everything mixes well. The swirling motion helps emulsify the pesto and pasta water into a sauce. Once the desired sauce consistency is reached, the pasta is ready to be plated.

7. Garnish with the chopped walnuts, lemon zest, and parmesan cheese (if using).

8. Enjoy!