Creamy and flavoursome pumpkin seed and kale pesto tossed with pasta of your choice and cherry tomatoes. Make this quick and easy dish in less than 25mins!
About Nutrika
Nutrika is a women owned plant-based Canadian business that sells a variety of healthy and nutritious products.
They have three pumpkin seed products, which are all sourced from a special kind of pumpkin seed from Styria. These pumpkin seeds differ from regular pumpkin seeds because they’re bigger, darker in colour and contain more naturally derived nutritional content! The phytonutrients in the pumpkin seeds contain healthy fats, antioxidants and vitamins and minerals. Did I mention these pumpkin seeds are 100% organic and certified non GMO?
The other product they offer is the Okanagan Cherry Juice. Much like Nutrika’s pumpkin seed products, the cherry juice also has it’s special aspects. For starters, the cherry juice is 100% made of cherries. The juice is packed in a vacuum bag, which means you can enjoy the cherry juice all year long as it has a long shelf life. The cherry juice is rich in antioxidants, and is also a good source of calcium!
In this recipe, I used Nutrika’s Certified Organic Pumpkin Seeds for the pumpkin seed and kale pesto.
If you live in Canada, check out their products at Nutrika.ca and support a women owned vegan business.
Ingredients Rundown
- Your choice of pasta. In this recipe, I used fussili. Some other pastas you can use: fettuccini, panne, spaghettini and more.
- Nutrika’s Certified Organic Pumpkin Seeds (also good for baked treats such as my Pumpkin Cherry Loaf!)
- Fresh kale leaves
- Cherry tomatoes (can be multicolour if you want!)
- Nutritional yeast is a must for the pesto
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Garlic cloves
- Salt and pepper
3 Easy Steps
- Cook your choice of pasta with a drizzle of oil and a pinch of salt until al dente (just cooked and at its chewiest state). Drain the pasta with a colander and set aside. If you’re looking to make a pasta salad, put the cooked pasta in the refrigerator to cool completely.
- Add all the pesto ingredients into a food processor and pulse until your desired pesto consistency is reached. You may want chunky pesto, or creamy pesto so adjust your pulsing time accordingly and be sure to scrape down the sides of the processor frequently! Use a high speed blender if you don’t have a food processor.
3. Toss the pasta, pesto and cherry tomatoes in a large dish and serve!
How to store
If you’re making a pasta salad, store the finished dish in the refrigerator to keep cold and consume within an hour of leaving at room temperature.
If you’re eating the pasta hot, store leftovers in the fridge and reheat the pasta in the microwave on high for 1-2mins.
Store extra pesto in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Other lunch recipes on my site
- Vegan Butternut Squash Mac
- Tofu Ricotta and Tomato Pasta
- BBQ Pulled Jackfruit Tacos
- Grilled Peach, Tofu Ricotta and Arugula Toast
Pumpkin Seed and Kale Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 servings pasta of your choice
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
Pumpkin seed and kale pesto
- 1½ cups kale leaves , stem removed
- ¾ cup Nutrika Certified Organic Pumpkin Seeds, link in notes
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Add a pinch of salt and a drizzle of vegetable oil. Add your pasta of choice and cook according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.2 servings pasta of your choice
- Add all the ingredients under "pumpkin seed and kale pesto" into a food processor or a high speed blender. Pulse until desired consistency is reached. If you prefer creamier and smoother pesto, pulse for longer.1½ cups kale leaves, ¾ cup Nutrika Certified Organic Pumpkin Seeds, 2 cloves garlic, ½ cup olive oil, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 4 tbsp nutritional yeast, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp black pepper
- Toss the pasta, pesto and halved cherry tomatoes and serve!½ cup cherry tomatoes
Notes
- Get your hands on Nutrika’s Certified Organic Pumpkin Seeds for this recipe!
- For a thinner pesto, add an additional 3tbsp of water when pulsing the ingredients together.
- If there is extra pesto, store it in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
This blog post is sponsored by Nutrika. I may receive compensation at no cost to you. All words, opinions and views are 100% my own and are no affected by the fact that I receive compensation. For more information, please email my at foodbylingling@gmail.com. For more information regarding the product used in this recipe, please contact Nutrika directly at contact@nutrika.ca
