Green Veggie Pesto Pasta

I eat fairly balanced meals throughout the week. Yet I'm always a bit annoyed every time I come across an article citing the daily recommended serving of vegetables. Unless I'm eating giant salads every day - which admittedly maybe I should - it seems damn near impossible to cram enough vegetables into my diet.

Lately I've taken to tinkering a bit with some recipes looking for opportunities to cram in a few extra veggies. In addition to shoving spinach into my morning smoothies, I snuck a few helpings of vegetables into my pesto pasta one evening.

Green Veggie Pesto Pasta

Ingredients

For the pesto

·       2 small zucchini, diced

·       1 bunch broccolini, chopped in 1 in pieces

·       1 tbsp plus ½ cup olive oil

·       2 large garlic cloves, chopped

·       2 cups fresh spinach, packed

·       1 cup fresh basil

·       1 cup low fat ricotta

·       ¾ tsp salt, or more to taste

·       ½ tsp black pepper

·       Zest and juice of 2 lemons

·       1/3 cup grated pecorino cheese

For the pasta

·       1 lb pasta

·       1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

·       Pecorino cheese

For the pesto… Preheat oven to 425F.

Toss the zucchini and broccolini in 1 tbsp olive oil. Spread into one layer on a sheet pan. Roast for 15-20 minutes until relatively soft.

Transfer the roasted veggies to the bowl of a food processor. Add the chopped garlic. Blend until roughly chopped. Add the spinach and fresh basil and continue to pulse until the veggies resemble confetti.

Add the ricotta, salt, pepper, lemon juice and zest. Blend until smooth.

Add the olive oil and pecorino cheese. Pulse again until just combined.

For the pasta… Cook the pasta in an abundance of salted boiling water per package instructions. Before draining the pasta, reserve about 1 cup of the cooking water. Toss the cooked pasta in about 1 ¼ cups of the pesto. Drizzle in splashes of the pasta cooking water until reaching the desired consistency of sauce. Toss in the cherry tomatoes.

Serve the pasta and garnish with more pecorino cheese.

Makes 2 ½ cups

Gluten Free Friendly!

Swap the noodles for your favorite gluten free pasta brand.