Vegan kale and avocado pesto pasta. To store for a longer time, drizzle some oil over the pesto sauce to prevent. This quick, easy kale avocado pesto pasta is a deliciously simple recipe, with a creamy texture and tons of flavor. A super healthy but comforting vegetarian and vegan pasta dinner!
Bright and delicious, this Avocado Pesto Pasta is packed with fresh Herbs, creamy Avocado, and Nutritional Yeast for a totally healthy & plant-based sauce!
Fun Fact: I actually didn't like Pesto as a kid.
Thank goodness your tastebuds change over time though; nowadays, I'm totally obsessed with this.
You can cook Vegan kale and avocado pesto pasta using 10 ingredients and 7 steps. Here is how you cook it.
Ingredients of Vegan kale and avocado pesto pasta
- It's 2 cups of penne pasta.
- Prepare 2 cups of packed, roughly chopped kale leaves (washed and drained).
- You need 1 of large ripe avocado.
- You need 1/4 cup of walnuts.
- You need 1 of small lemon/lime or half a large lemon/lime juice.
- Prepare 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped.
- It's 1 of large green chili/jalapeno pepper (or crushed red chilies); optional.
- You need 3 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive oil (or more according to personal preference).
- It's to taste of Salt.
- It's of Freshly ground black pepper (optional; I have used only green chilies).
This California-inspired pesto pasta recipe combines the light, creamy flavor of the avocado with a rich basil pesto for a unique vegetarian pasta dish. Jolinda Hackett has written five books about plant-based cooking and has developed hundreds of vegan and vegetarian recipes. Easy vegan pesto with tons of fresh herbs, nutrient-rich kale, seeds, and nutritional yeast! This vegan pesto pasta with homemade kale pesto and spring vegetables makes for a quick and delicious mid-week meal that can I stirred it through some wholemeal pasta and added lots of green veggies to it to turn it into a spring-inspired dish.
Vegan kale and avocado pesto pasta step by step
- Cook pasta according to package instructions; al dente. Keep aside a cup of pasta water and drain, rinse with cold water and keep aside. Make sure to salt the water well..
- TO MAKE THE PESTO: In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the chopped kale, avocado chunks, chopped garlic, walnuts, salt, lemon juice and green chili..
- Drizzle olive oil through the open chute on top and blitz until fully combined, scraping the sides of the processor in between. Do a taste test and add lemon juice, salt or oil if needed. Make a slightly coarse paste..
- Remove to a bowl and keep aside..
- Just before serving, stir in as much of the kale avocado pesto into the pasta and enjoy warm or at room temperature showered with more walnuts! If needed, stir in some of the pasta water to thin the pesto sauce. Enjoy foodies!.
- Notes Leftover pesto sauce can be stored in an airtight glass jar for up to 3 to 4 days. To store for a longer time, drizzle some oil over the pesto sauce to prevent the top from browning. Pestos are not only for pastas; you can use them up in sandwiches, as dips, on pizzas (instead of tomato sauce), in salads etc. Use any kind of pasta you love; it could be spaghetti, macaroni, spiral, rigatone, shell etc. Instead of walnuts, you can use cashews, sunflower seeds, almonds etc..
- For best results and taste, use EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) but if you cannot find it, regular refined oil will do. If you love cheese, stir in 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese while making the pesto and serve with a sprinkle of more Parmesan!.
If you want this dish to be extra quick, don't bother. Pesto Quinoa with Zucchini, Kale, Walnuts and Avocado. Making a vegan kale pesto is about as easy as it gets, and similar to my spinach pesto pasta. A lot of kale pesto recipes call for blending the kale with a bunch of olive oil and saucing it directly onto the pasta. As a lover of olive oil and bitterness, I'm totally on board, but I'm trying to go for more general.