One of my favorite things about this recipe is that my little kids LOVE it which means they get some healthy greens in their system. Pesto is great to me because it is… easy to customize! I love recipes like that, although I can’t think if any recipes that really aren’t like that. In any case, don’t like something? Change it! Wish it had more salt? Add some! I love having some staple base recipes that I can prepare different ways to keep things interesting. What is also great about this dish is that it is very quick and easy to make.

Start your salted pasta water before you prep your vegetables so that it is ready to go when you get to that point. For the vegetables, I used half a bunch of kale but you could easily adjust that up or down depending on how kale-y you would like your pasta to be. You could also use other greens or herbs or a combination. I like to set the leaves in a bowl of water, give it a soak, and then swish it around. When you pull the leaves out, any debris should sink to the bottom of the bowl. Remove the stems and rough chop your kale. Nothing fancy. It’s all getting tossed in the food processor. While you’re here, clean and slice your mushrooms. I prefer to wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp cloth because they absorb a lot of water if you rinse them and do not brown well when cooking. You can also use any other vegetables you prefer. In the past, I have used zucchini, yellow squash, grape tomatoes, onions, green beans… so adjust as you prefer. Whatever you’re using, prep them now and set them aside.

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I had some little helpers to shell my English peas. If you don’t have fresh, frozen green peas will work just fine.

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Next, put your kale, garlic, nutritional yeast/parmesan cheese and salt into the food processor and pulse until the pieces are small and even in size.

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Next, drizzle in your oil with the food processor running until it has a smooth consistency. Cook your pasta according to the package directions. I used whole wheat linguine but any type will do. While the pasta is cooking, cook your peas. I like to saute for one minute in oil and then add a quarter cup of water and simmer for 5 minutes. In a separate pan, heat your oil on medium high heat. Saute your mushrooms until lightly golden.

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At this point, I prefer to cook the pesto for just a minute or two. It gets very green and gets rid of the slight bitterness of raw kale and garlic. Add the pesto and stir it up.

I went ahead and mixed all the pasta and pesto together but you can also add a little of the sauce at a time to individual servings if you want to be able to adjust how much sauce is on your pasta. Spoon on your peas and dinner is ready!

Quick and simple dinner in minutes. Enjoy!

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