Basil pesto with risoni

Author: Sarah Swain - Food writer, stylist and recipe creator

Photographer: Joanna Wickham

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Our healthy vegetarian basil pesto with risoni is super simple, tasty, and only takes 15 minutes to make. Great for a light lunch or side dish at a barbecue.

Serves: 4

Time to make: 20 mins

Ingredients

More weights & measures

2 cloves garlic

1 ¼ cups fresh sweet basil leaves, loosely packed

3 tablespoons olive oil

juice and rind of 2 large lemons

75g freshly grated parmesan cheese

50g grated edam cheese

salt and freshly ground black pepper

300g risoni

Instructions

1 Cook the risoni until tender in boiling salted water.

2 While the risoni is cooking, place the garlic, basil, olive oil, lemon juice and three-quarters of the lemon rind in a processor and blend until smooth. Add the parmesan and edam to the mixture. Blend well and season to taste with salt and pepper.

3 Drain the pasta and transfer to a large serving bowl. Spoon over the basil pesto and toss to coat the pasta. Season and serve immediately topped with fresh basil and the remaining lemon zest.

HFG tip

You can vary the pasta you use in this dish, but I like trying some of the more unusual shaped pasta such as risoni or orzo.

Nutrition Info (per serve)

Calories 447cal

Kilojoules 1870kJ

Protein 20.2g

Total fat 18g

–Saturated fat 6.5g

Carbohydrates 51g

–Sugars 1g

Dietary fibre 4.2g

Sodium 515mg

Calcium 330mg

Iron 2.3mg

Note: This nutrition analysis is a guide only. Nutrition composition will vary depending on the exact ingredients used. See our guides on your optimal daily nutrition intake, and supermarket shopping.

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