Pasta with Courgette and Pea Pesto

• 1courgette, roughly chopped
• 150gfrozen peas
• 1garlic clove, peeled
• 30gbasil, leaves and soft stalks
• 50 gvegetarian Italian-style hard cheese, finely grated
• 30gpine nuts or sunflower seeds
• 30 mllemon juice
• 4 tbspolive oil
• fine salt
• black pepper
• 400gfusilli or penne
• 100 gvegetarian-labelled feta, crumbled, optional (optional)
• Finely grated lemon zest (2 g)
• 200 gcooked chicken, shredded, optional alternative to feta (optional)

Method

1. 1Bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil and cook the pasta for the time on the packet, until tender with a little bite.
2. 2While it cooks, put the courgette in a small pan with a splash of water and a pinch of fine salt. Cover and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes until soft enough to crush with a spoon. Add the frozen peas and cook for the time on their packet, until steaming hot throughout.
3. 3Tip the courgette and peas into a blender or food processor with the garlic, basil, vegetarian hard cheese, pine nuts, lemon zest, half the lemon juice and the olive oil. Blend until smooth and glossy, loosening with 2 tablespoons of the pasta water.
4. 4Taste the pesto. It should be sweet from the peas and sharp from the lemon. Add more lemon juice, salt and black pepper until it tastes bright.
5. 5Drain the pasta, keeping a mug of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pan and stir in the pesto with enough of the water to coat every piece in a loose green sauce.
6. 6Serve in bowls. Add the optional crumbled feta or shredded cooked chicken if using; choose the feta for a vegetarian serving.

Per serving

kcal

626

protein

20.6g

fibre

6.1g

carbs

81.7g

fat

24g