Healthy Summer Pasta Recipes
With Craving Greens By Clare
Two colorful plant based pasta dishes…perfect for summer without all the guilt. All you need is a blender, and a few seasonal ingredients to create these two fabulous dishes. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing comparable to a delicious pasta dinner from your favorite Italian spot. Though dinner’s like these are great in moderation, if you’re a pasta lover like me, we need some healthy go-to weeknight pasta options! Here are two fabulous, colorful, and plant based pasta dishes you can easily make at home!
Beet Pesto Pasta
Believe it or not, this recipe was super easy. I’ve always loved trying different versions of marinara without the acidity of tomatoes. I can’t deny my love for classic marinara but it can often lead to painful heartburn for me if it is not properly neutralized…beets are a great alternative to provide as your base for this pesto sauce.
This beet pesto sauce is packed with vitamins and minerals from the beets and healthy fats from the walnuts and extra virgin olive oil. Plus the texture was so smooth, creamy, and nutty!
Ingredients
4 beets (roasted or steamed)
4 cloves of garlic
3-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons of red chili pepper flakes
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of walnuts (almond or pine nuts would work too!)
Feta cheese
Fresh Dill
Pasta of choice (I used a linguine)
Directions
Cook your beets. I cut and trimmed the leaves and ends and drizzled with a little Olive Oil. Then, individually wrap them in tin foil, and roast on 400 degrees for about 50 minutes. Once they’re done, I cut them in thirds to process easily in the blender.
Cook 1/2 pound of your favorite pasta al dente. Save a little bit of the pasta water while its cooking, this will help to break up the beet pesto. Set pasta aside and drizzle with a little olive oil. I used a white linguine because I really wanted to taste the flavor of the beets!
In a blender (I used my NutriBullet) pulse the walnuts and garlic. Then add your beets, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, and red chili pepper flakes. Blend until smooth and creamy.
Mix the pesto with the linguine. Use a little bit of the pasta water you reserved to break up the sauce if need be.
Mix together fresh chopped dill, feta cheese, and olive oil to crumble on top of the pasta and serve.
Sunshine Yellow Pepper Pasta
This dish was inspired by Jamie Oliver’s Sunshine Fusilli. I have his cook book and am always improvising his vegetarian meals. This sunshine pasta purée is literally made with two yellow peppers, garlic, olive oil, and parmesan cheese. It tasted light, had a killer texture, and had the consistency of a creamy mac and cheese without ALL the cheese…
Ingredients
1 yellow onion
4 gloves of garlic
3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
2 yellow peppers (you can also use orange or red)
½ cup of shelled pistachios
¼ cup of parmesan cheese
Fusilli Pasta
Directions
1. Roughly chop your onion and garlic, then sauté in olive oil and white wine vinegar with salt on medium heat for about 10 minutes.
2. Cut, chop, and remove the seeds from the yellow peppers then add to the sauté mixture. Cook on low heat covered for 10 more minutes until peppers are tender. Salt to taste, then set aside.
3. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water. I saved about 1 cup of the boiling pasta water for the purée.
4. In a blender (I used a NutriBullet), pulse the pistachios. Remove from the NutriBullet and set aside (it’s ok if some residue is still in the NutriBullet, it adds a good flavor to the purée)
5. Let the yellow pepper mixture cool for a bit before adding to the Nutribullet, then blend until smooth. Add as much of the the hot pasta water you set aside if need be. I added about ½-¾ cup of mine. The texture should be smooth, thick, creamy with a radiant yellow coloring.
6. Immediately pour the puree over the pasta, and sprinkle with the ground pistachios and serve!
For more healthy, wholesome recipes check out the Craving Greens by Clare website and Instagram!