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Little Gem pesto pasta recipe

Little Gem pesto pasta recipe

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Try whipping up some homemade pesto this summer using seasonal Little Gem lettuce. Freeze any leftovers to enjoy another day. See method

  • Serves Serves 4 (makes about 200g pesto)
  • 10 mins to prepare and 10 mins to cook
  • 435 calories / serving
  • Freezable
  • Vegetarian

Ingredients

  • 300g tagliatelle
  • 200g frozen peas
  • 2-pack Little Gem lettuces, trimmed, 1 roughly chopped
  • 1 large garlic clove
  • 15g fresh parsley
  • 15g fresh basil
  • 30g vegetarian hard cheese (or Parmesan), plus extra to serve (optional)
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced
  • 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 of your 5-a-day and low in saturated fat

Each serving contains

  • Energy

    1830kj
    435kcal     22%

  • Fat

    14g 20%

  • Saturates

    3g 16%

  • Sugars

    5g 6%

  • Salt

    0.3g 5%

of the reference intake
Carbohydrate 58.4g Protein 15.6g Fibre 5.6g

Method

  1. Cook the pasta to pack instructions, adding the peas for the last 3 mins. Drain, reserving a mugful of the cooking water.
  2. Meanwhile, put the chopped lettuce in a food processor with the garlic, herbs, cheese and lemon juice. Pulse until combined, then add the olive oil and blitz to a thick pesto. Season to taste.
  3. Roughly shred the remaining lettuce. Toss with the cooked pasta and peas, the pesto and a splash of the reserved cooking water to loosen. Serve with more black pepper, the lemon zest and extra cheese, if you like.

See more Pesto recipes

Freezing and defrosting guidelines

Freeze pesto only. In order to enjoy optimum flavour and quality, frozen items are best used within 3 months of their freezing date. For more tips on freezing and defrosting food, read our article Love Your Freezer.

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