Irish Vegan pesto pasta

​When I cook, I am often experimenting, my creative urge you might call it. Sometimes the results are surprisingly tasty.
 
I wanted to make pesto pasta. Everyone should make their own because it is so easy and homemade pesto is divine. I had some fresh basil but not quite enough.  

There was kale growing in the garden, a little Cavolo Nero, so I thought, why not?  Passing the parsley, I snipped off a handful … all greens.
 
Now here’s my secret, when I experiment, I tell no one 😉. If others know I going to make pesto with kale they may object. Of course, there is a risk that they may not like what I do, but risk is cooking and living!

​INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup packed - fresh basil
• ½ cup fresh kale (about 3 or 4 leaves, stems removed) … I like Cavolo Nero
• ¼ cup fresh parsley
• 3 garlic cloves
• A few tbsp of pine nuts
• 250g of your favourite pasta ( in the photo is Raditori )
• 3 Tbsps of Hungry Soul – Natural vegan cream cheese
• 1 cup of pasta water reserved from the cooking
• A good drizzle of exta virgin olive oil
• Some sea salt

 
METHOD:Remove the stems from the kale and roughly chop it up.

1. Pesto can be made by hand if you chop everything very fine. But in this case, I chose to use a food processor, especially since I am using kale, I wanted it all nice and smooth.
2. In your food processor add everything except the Hungry Soul cream cheese. Blend until it is nice and smooth, then taste it. You may need a little more olive oil and salt. You want an oily runny sauce.
   Note - this will taste stronger than regular basil-only pesto, because of the kale, but do not fear, it is not yet the finished article.
3. Cook the pasta al dente reserving a cup of the cooking water.
4. Return the pasta to the pot and most of the pesto, reserving a little. Add ½ a cup of the pasta water.
5. Gently warm this all up stirring to coat the pasta then add the cream cheese and a little more of the pasta water. Taste it, you may want a little more of the pesto … you may even want a little more of the cream cheese.
6. Serve it up and enjoy.

 
@HungrySoulVegan   - Changing the Culture