This is an idea I got from my friend Alice that is staying with us at the moment – my housemate and her are doing a Gut Makeover and needed to keep it dairy free and gluten free and you miss neither with this recipe!

The noodles are courgetti or zoodles mixed with pasta (use a gluten free variety or double the zoodles to keep it gluten free) in my version and I’ve added rosemary roasted chickpeas for extra protein and texture. This kept me full all day which is saying something because I can EAT.

You make the pesto super creamy without adding any dairy by blending the nuts with extra virgin oil, basil and lemon in a high speed blender. I know it looks like there’s avocado in there and when I first tried it I thought there was – but nope just nuts and oil! It will still work without a high speed blender but it won’t be as creamy, more like a traditional pesto texture.

To stop it from getting super rich (you’ve got the nuts and the extra virgin olive oil for richness) I add lots of lemon and apple cider vinegar. The lemons add freshness and acid and the apple cider vinegar adds extra acid and sharpness to cut through the fat. I usually add a little water to thin out a thick, creamy pesto like this because adding more oil can disrupt that balance of flavour. The tomatoes are optional as well, as they’re out of season they’re not the best right now but roasting them does help bring out some sweetness and I love their acidity with the creamy pesto.

You could easily add grilled chicken, roasted chicken (shredded) or prawns to this instead of the chickpeas if you’re not after a vegetarian/vegan meal.

Can’t wait for you to try this one!

Serves 4

Ingredients

250g cherry tomatoes, cut in half

2 cloves garlic (or 4 little ones, the Australian garlic I’m buying at the moment has very small cloves!))

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

3 tbs rosemary leaves

1 can of chickpeas drained

100g spaghetti or bucatini (my fave) – use gluten free if you need to!

2 zucchini, spiralized into noodles

1 cup peas (use frozen if out of season)

Creamy Pesto

1/2 cup cashews

1/2 cup almonds

1 bunch basil (2 cups worth approx, I use stalk, leaves everything)

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 birds eye chilli, seeds removed

1.5 Tbs Apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbs water

Directions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.

Toss the tomatoes with 1 Tbs oil and 1/2 the rosemary. Spread in a single layer on one of the stays add the garlic cloves. Season and roast in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes or until they have collapsed and started to caramelise. Remove the garlic at the 20 minute mark when soft to use in the pesto.

Toss the chickpeas with 1 Tbs oil and the remaining rosemary and spread in a single layer on the other tray. Season with salt and pepper and then roast in the lower shelf of your oven for 15-20 minutes. or until golden and a little crispy.

Meanwhile, place all the pesto ingredients in a high speed blender along with the roasted garlic cloves (remove the skin prior) and blend until smooth and creamy, set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add the peas and cook for 2 minutes then scoop out with a sieve or slotted spoon. Set aside. bring the water back to the boil. and cook your pasta according to packet directions. Drain and toss with the peas and zucchini noodles.

Add the chickpeas and the pesto to your hot noodles and toss well to combine. Serve with the Roasted tomatoes on top, drizzled with more extra virgin olive oil if you’re an addict like me and an extra squeeze of lemon if you’re also obsessed with those (like me). Yum!

HH. x

Thanks again for the idea Alice!