Gabriella is a freelance recipe developer, who trained at Leiths School of Food and Wine. She started her career at Seven Publishing before moving to Good Housekeeping as a cookery writer. She has also worked for Delicious Magazine, Olive Magazine, Pavillion Books, Sous Chef and Hello Fresh.
We’ve made this deliciously fresh pesto pasta salad made with pistachios, basil and mint, and packed with lemon. Perfect for lunchboxes, this will keep in your fridge for 2-3 days.
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- Yields:
- 4 - 6 serving(s)
- Prep Time:
- 20 mins
- Cook Time:
- 15 mins
- Total Time:
- 35 mins
Ingredients
- 125 g
pistachio kernels
- 60 g
fresh basil
- 30 g
fresh mint, leaves picked
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
Zest and juice 1 1/2 lemons
- 75 g
Parmesan, finely grated, plus extra shaving to serve
- 150 ml
extra virgin olive oil, plus 1tbsp
- 350 g
penne pasta
- 2
courgettes, cut into 2cm chunks
- 290 g
jar roasted red peppers, drained, rinsed and thinly sliced
Directions
- Step 1Heat a small frying pan over medium heat, add the pistachios and cook for for 2-3 mins, until lightly toasted. Set aside to cool.
- Step 2Set aside a few basil leaves, mint leaves and 2tbsp pistachios to garnish. Add the pistachios, basil, mint, garlic, lemon zest and juice, Parmesan and 150ml olive oil to a food processor and season with salt and pepper. Blitz until well combined but still with some texture.
- Step 3Cook the penne to pack instructions. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add half the courgettes, season with salt and pepper and stir fry for 5-6 mins until golden brown all over and tender. Add to a large bowl and repeat with the remaining courgette, adding more oil if needed. Drain the penne and run under cold water until cool. Add to the bowl with the courgettes then add the pesto and red peppers then stir everything together really well. Chop the remaining pistachios roughly.
- Step 4Divide between plates and top with the remaining basil, mint, pistachios and parmesan shavings.
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