Does this spring greens pesto pasta keep well? Can I make extra for lunchboxes or meal prep?

If you want to double this up so you have a few packed lunches to enjoy throughout the rest of the week, this is delicious cold. However, I'd blend a slightly chunkier spinach pesto than in the pictures so you don't get a 'slime' factor some smooth pesto recipes give.

Can I switch up the veggies in this pasta at all?

Of course you can! Go with whatever looks good when you're doing your shopping. Mangetout will work just as well as the snap peas, and if you can't get baby leeks, big, fat spring onions will do. I like early season asparagus as I find it is lighter and more tender, but fatter stalks will also work - just cut them thinly so they soften in the blanching water.

Can I use a different type of pesto to the spinach one?

Regular basil pesto will work here, but will give the dish less of a fresh, clean spring vibe. If you use it, still add the zest of half a lemon to the mix. Better as it is the time of year for it would be wild garlic pesto ( here is my recipe !) but still keep the lemon zest, but to taste this time as I know my wild garlic pesto recipe is quite heavy on the lemon already.

Spring Greens Pesto Pasta

Name: Spring Greens Pesto Pasta
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 200g penne pasta; sea salt; 12 spears early asparagus (the really skinny spears); 2 baby leeks; 2 handfuls sugar snap peas; 80g baby spinach; handful fresh mint; zest of 1/2 lemon; 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan or pecorino, plus extra to serve

Description

This easy pasta dish is the perfect way to showcase spring greens with a homemade, lemony fresh spinach pesto.

Ingredients

Scale

200g penne pasta
sea salt
12 spears early asparagus (the really skinny spears)
2 baby leeks
2 handfuls sugar snap peas
80g baby spinach
handful fresh mint
zest of 1/2 lemon
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan or pecorino, plus extra to serve

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Set the pasta to boil, as per the packets instructions (I usually find it takes about 18 minutes) in a pan of salted water, until just tender.
Meanwhile, prepare and blanch the veg. Top, tail and rinse the leeks, and cut them into generous centimetre rounds. Tail the asparagus spears and do likewise, and half or third the snap peas, depending on their size. You want everything to be about the same size.
Put them in a heatproof bowl, salt well and pour over boiling water. Drain as well as you can after 5 minutes. The veg should be tender, but still crunchy.
To make the pesto, combine the spinach, mint, lemon zest, olive oil, parmesan and a pinch more salt in a blender (I used my NutriNinja) until it has reached your desired consistency – in the pictures I’ve made the pesto quite smooth, but a chunkier pesto also works well for this recipe. You may need to stop it and stir everything with a spatula a couple of times to make sure you get all the bits!
To assemble, drain the pasta well, and toss together with the vegetables and the sauce so that the pasta is well coated. Serve with some extra parmesan grated on top!

Notes

If you need this to be vegetarian, make sure that your cheese choice reflects this!