Vegan Pesto Pasta with Charred Broccoli. Easy Vegan Pesto with Ziti, served with roasted cherry tomatoes and charred broccoli. 21 gm of protein! Vegan Soyfree Recipe. Can be gluten-free and nut-free.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Italian, Vegan

Ingredients

Pesto:

  • 1/2 cup packed fresh basil
  • 1.5 cups spinach (, or baby kale, chard or cilantro or more basil)
  • 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
  • 2 tbsp pecans, (or use almonds, cashews, more sunflower seeds, hemp seeds)
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (, optional)
  • zest of half a lemon (, or use lemon juice to taste)
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • water as needed
  • black pepper, red pepper flakes or other flavor additions

Pasta:

  • 12 to 14 oz Ziti (or other pasta, gluten-free if needed)
  • 1 cup or more grape or cherry tomatoes
  • 1 bunch broccoli
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp oil
  • 2 cloves of minced garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Method

  1. Add basil, spinach, sunflower seeds, pecans, garlic, salt, nutritional yeast, lemon zest to a food processor. Process until a coarse mixture. Add oil and a tbsp or so water. and process again. Add more water if needed to make a homogeneous mixture.
  2. Cook the pasta according to instructions on the package. Drain and Mix the pesto with the pasta.
  3. Grease a large baking dish. Slice the cherry tomatoes and place in the dish. Sprinkle some salt.
  4. Add broccoli to a bowl. Drizzle oil and lemon over the broccoli. Cover and shake to coat. Add the garlic, pepper flakes, salt, shake again and spread in the baking dish which has the cherry tomatoes.
  5. Bake at 410 degrees F (210 C) for 18 to 22 minutes. then broil for a min. Add the roasted broccoli and tomatoes to the pesto pasta and serve. Garnish with black pepper, vegan parm (optional).

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.