Pasta Primavera with Carrot-Top Pesto
A fresh, vibrant, and healthy explosion of spring flavors. Carrot-top pesto with pistachios and mint over a medley of pasta, zucchini, rainbow chard, beets, leeks, and asparagus. A delicious dinner in less than 20 minutes.
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
Carrot Top Pesto
- 1 lemon juiced and zested
- 4 cups fresh carrot-top greens
- 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
- 2 tbsp pistachios
- 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled (or 1-2 green garlic stalks)
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 4-6 tbsp water, as needed to thin pesto
- salt and pepper to taste
Pasta Primavera
- 1 package dried pasta of choice
- 2-3 small purple beets, roasted*
- 1 bunch rainbow chard, chopped**
- 1 cup leeks, chopped
- 10-12 spears asparagus, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 zucchini, sprialized or cut into bite sized pieces
Instructions
Carrot-Top Pesto
- Combine all ingredients into a blender. Start with 3 tbsp of water. Blend until smooth.
- Add additional water if needed to thin and season to personal perference with salt and pepper.
Pasta Primavera
- Cook pasta according to package directions.
- In a large sautee pan, cook rainbow chard, asparagus, leeks, garlic, and chopped zucchini (if using spiralized add at the end) and cook for 8 minutes.
- Add spiralized zucchini and chopped roasted beets to pan after 8 minutes and cook for an additional 2 minutes to warm.
Serving
- Mix each serving of pasta with 1/4 cup of pesto. Add a scoop of cooked vegetables to top and additional pesto if desired.
Notes
*Beets can be roasted the day before and stored in the refrigerator. To speed up meal preparation, you can use store bought pre-roasted beets.
**Chop the stalks into bite sized pieces. If using the greens as well, chop them and cook with the other vegetables.