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Asparagus Pesto Pasta Salad
Easy Tasty Vegan Salad Recipe, Low Fat, Nutritious, Delicious
Easy summer pasta salad recipe courtesy Susan V, Fat Free Vegan Blog. We loved it, and you will too!
When Susan saw this recipe for asparagus pesto fettucine, she had to try a vegan version. It turned out much more tangy than regular pesto. Definitely a keeper!
Total Prep And Cook Time: 30 Minutes
8 Servings
Nutrition Data, 202g Serving: 270 cal, 51g carb, 4g fat, 155mg sodium, 4g fiber, 14g protein, low Cholesterol, good source Vit K, B6, B12, Iron. Estimated glycemic load 30
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds asparagus
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup pine nuts (lightly toasted)
- 1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- OPTIONAL: 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound whole wheat or gluten-free spiral pasta
- 2 medium ripe tomatoes, diced (optional)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
- Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add the asparagus spears
- Cook until just tender, about 4 minutes
- Without emptying the water from the pot, lift out the asparagus spears and place them in a colander
- Rinse with cool water
- Bring the water back to a boil. Add salt, if needed, and add pasta
- Cook until the pasta is al dente
- Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water, and drain and rinse the pasta with cool water
- Put into a serving bowl
- Place the asparagus on a cutting board. Trim off the top 3 inches of the asparagus spears, and put the tips into the bowl with the pasta
- Cut the bottoms into several pieces, and set aside to use in the pesto sauce
- Use a food processor to make the pesto: With the processor running, drop in the garlic cloves and allow them to chop
- Add 2 tablespoons of the pine nuts, and pulse to chop
- Add the lemon juice, basil, salt, nutritional yeast, and the asparagus pieces (not the tips!) along with 3-6 tablespoons of the reserved pasta water and optional olive oil
- Start with 3 tbsp. pasta water and add more as needed. Puree until smooth
- Toss the pasta, asparagus tips, and tomatoes (if using) with the pesto, and season with salt and pepper to taste
- Sprinkle with the remaining pine nuts
- Serve at room temperature or refrigerate until ready to serve
Recipe Notes from Susan V.
I would never have thought of making pesto with cooked asparagus. I normally make pesto with a little silken tofu (instead of olive oil), but that was missing from my pantry."
Since I was making this salad ahead of time, I added the optional olive oil to keep the pasta from sticking together, but I don�t think it improved the taste, so don�t feel like you need to use it.
Recipe Comments:
Excellent! Delicious. I was a bit more generous with the garlic, the basil and pine nuts and for tomato I had some heirloom tomato marinated in balsamic vinegar and cilantro leaves. When I thought the salad felt a bit dry I just added some more of the asparagus-pasta water. And I added a bit of salt and pepper. I loved the recipe, thank you! - Sunita K.
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