Pesto Pasta Salad
- Egg free
- Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 350 g pasta shapes (spiral or bows)
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp capers
- 1/2 medium capsicum, chopped
- 250 g punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
- 8 whole olive
- 150 g baby spinach leaves
- 1 tbs basil pesto
- 1 medium Lebanese cucumber, diced
Variations
Add grilled chicken or tuna to your pasta salad for a protein boost.
If you don't have the veggies listed, swap them out and use up what you have in the fridge. Any easy cook veggies would work such as mushrooms, zuchinni or broccoli.
Method
1. Cook pasta according to packet directions. Once cooked, drain the pasta and set aside, reserving a little bit of the cooking liquid.
2. Heat the oil and fry the garlic and capers until fragrant. Add the capsicum, tomatoes and olives and cook for two minutes.
3. Pour the pasta back into the pot with the spinach, pesto and a small amount of cooking liquid. Stir until the spinach has wilted slightly.
4. Cool and add the diced cucumber for a delicious pasta salad.
Recipe and image supplied by Cancer Council NSW Healthy Lunch Box website.
Nutrition information
| per serving | per 100g | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 1368.9 kj | 371.4 kj |
| Protein | 11.7 g | 3.2 g |
| Fat, total | 8.7 g | 2.4 g |
| — saturated | 1.4 g | 0.4 g |
| Carbohydrate | 45.9 g | 12.5 g |
| — sugars | 4 g | 1.1 g |
| Sodium | 257.6 mg | 69.9 mg |
| Fibre | 6.9 g | 1.9 g |