Lunch Box Pasta Salad

Serves: 2

Ready in: Under 15 Mins

You can’t beat a pasta salad, especially one that is boosted with plant power to get you through a long day. Also it is time we shine a light on sundried tomato pesto, less well-known than green pesto but equally as tasty! Switch up your pasta by using chickpea, buckwheat or other types of pasta. Recipe extracted from 7 Day Vegan Challenge by Bettina Campolucci Bordi (Hardie Grant, hardback & ebook). Photography: Nassima Rothacker.

Ingredients
Method

Ingredients:

150g dried gluten-free penne pasta (or good-quality normal)
¼ onion, sliced
240g tinned chickpeas, drained
60g rocket leaves
60g baby spinach leaves
olive oil, for drizzling

For the red pesto:

140g jar of sundried tomatoes (save the oil for blending)
20g (2 tbsp) hazelnuts
1 garlic clove
salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Boosters:

hemp hearts
extra herbs, such as basil or parsley

method:

Start off by boiling the pasta as per the packet instructions. Make sure you have plenty of water if you are using gluten-free pasta, and that you keep an eye on it so as to not overcook! Once boiled (about eight minutes), drain, drizzle with a little olive oil and set aside.
Prepare the pesto by putting all the ingredients into a blender and blitzing until smooth, then set aside.
Prepare all the veggies, including the chickpeas, and put everything in a bowl with generous tablespoons of pesto so that it covers the pasta properly – no one likes a dry pasta salad. Give it a taste and if it needs extra salt and pepper, go ahead and add some.

Print Recipe www.bettinaskitchen.com/