Vegetarian mains
Pick & Mix Pesto
Pick your own favourite veg in this flexible pesto recipe to make the perfect personalised dinner. We’ve included a few crunchy pumpkin seeds here – toasting them increases their fl avour. Try it with other seeds if you like, e.g. sunflower, or use pine nuts. If you don’t have orzo pasta (a very small, rice-shaped pasta) you can use any other pasta you have in your cupboard – try fusilli spirals, or broken up pieces of spaghetti.
Ingredients
main
- 4 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 150g orzo pasta
- 2 tbsp basil pesto
4 handfuls of your favourite veg, such as:
- 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1-2 courgettes, peeled into long ribbons
- a few broccoli florets, cut very thinly
- 125g green beans, thinly sliced
- 2 handfuls of baby spinach
Method
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Step 1
Put a large saucepan of well-salted water on to boil.
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Step 2
Put the pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan and heat them on a medium heat, stirring often, until they start to darken a little and toast. Transfer them to a plate.
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Step 3
Boil the orzo pasta for 7-8 mins, until tender with a little bite. Drain and rinse it in a sieve, under cold water, to cool it and prevent the pasta from sticking together.
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Step 4
Mix the orzo in a large bowl with the pesto – adding a little to start with, tasting and adding more as you go will help you get just the right flavour for you.
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Step 5
Gently toss the orzo with all the vegetables and arrange it on plates.
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Step 6
Serve sprinkled with the pumpkin seeds.